Back to School

Adapted from the church newsletter:

Last week, my husband and I accidentally discovered a rabbit’s nest in our back yard.  Well, truthfully, our dog discovered the rabbit’s nest; we discovered her excitement before she was able to do much damage.  I spent the next few hours learning about rabbits’ nests (even though I took science in school I don’t remember learning about rabbits’ nests), and what to do when your dog discovers one.  We also spent the next few days checking the area and the nest to make sure the bunnies were all right beneath the earth.

I have always loved learning new things, but didn’t necessarily think my own backyard was a place to learn them.  I actually loved going to school, even though I wasn’t always good at school (I was good at reading, but math was hard for me).  Every year at this time of the year, I wish I had an excuse to buy a backpack and some spiral notebooks and a few new pencils.  Every year at this time of year, I sort of wish I was going back to school.

What is a disciple of Jesus but a student?  We are all going back to school, really, if we are disciples of Jesus.  And some of the learning is in worship and some of the learning is in Sunday School classrooms and some of the learning is in Bible studies.  And some of the learning is in the strange and familiar places that we travel, and some of the learning is in our own backyards, as we uncover rabbits’ nests and encounter birth and death and suffering and joy.

Truthfully, I could never learned about the rabbits’ nest if I hadn’t been to first grade, and to all the other grades as well.  When we go back to school in the fall, we aren’t just learning:  we’re learning to learn, learning habits that will keep us curious and alive for our whole lives.  And when we come to church, to a Bible study, to serve together, we are learning, but we are also learning to learn:  learning to handle the tools and the wisdom that will keep us curious and alive in our life of faith.

Soon we will bless backpacks, and send students back to school.  At the same time we'll see more families with children back in worship and Sunday school.  And I can't help feeling both excited and wistful at the same time, excited for the new people I will meet and those I will be happy to see again, and wistful because I have missed them most of them in the summer.  I wonder (as I often too) if we haven't been mistaken to tie Sunday School to the School year so closely.  Though there are many reasons why people don't come to worship so often in the summer, I suspect at least one of them is simply that summer has become vacation from worship as well as from school.

But what is a disciple of Jesus but a student? Where-ever we are, where-ever we go, we are learning and being formed by his life.  And worship is one of the places where we get the tools so that we can learn to learn:  so that we can learn to see the presence of God in the weeping stranger, in the tall grass in our back yard, in the faces around our dining room table.  And worship is one of the places where we get the tools, so that we can learn to learn:  where we practice speaking our faith, kneeling in prayer and in service, listening to God, listening to one another.

The rabbits have left the nest.  We don't see them any more.  But there are many more things to learn, in my own backyard, in the sanctuary of my church.  It's true.  Once we learn to learn, there are lessons everywhere.

Why I Don't Have a Picture of Scout Frolicking in the Snow

This morning we woke up to thick big snow flakes falling on the lawn. It's the kind of snow that melts into your foot when you walk on it. It's the kind of snow that gets our dog, Scout all excited. Being part husky, she loves snow and ice; she loves running and rolling around and sticking her face in snow drifts when they are available. (Even she draws the line at about 20 degrees below zero, though; the ice hurts her paws.)

This morning we woke up to the sound of a dog whining and whining as if to say: "I want to go out and play in this RIGHT NOW." I wanted to wait until it was light enough to catch some pictures, or a short video of her frolicking. Such joie de vivre! So I put up with her whining as long as I could, and then let her out, quickly following her with my trusty digital camera.

However, she didn't run and frolick. She ran to one particular spot and started sniffing and pawing and licking. She picked up something and ran with it, something which at first looked like one of the big sticks she likes to carry around.

But it wasn't a stick. It was a dead rabbit.

I didn't think you would want pictures of that.

However, here is a picture of Scout looking not like a sociopathic killer, but instead like our best friend, comforter and household part-time entertainer. Here she is becoming one with the new rug in "her" room. She also obliged me by sleeping on the bed for awhile each night that my husband was gone, even though I think she likes her own bed better.

For some reason, I'm willing to put up with the "sociopathic killer" part. I wonder why.

Scout's accomplishment

Scout caught and ate a rabbit today.

We gather she feels good about herself right now. However, we don't feel the same about it.

I don't know. Perhaps she'll write about it later.

About the Dog

Recently I have been struck by my lack of commentary on any Recent World Events, such as the passing of Rev. Jerry Falwell. I am interested in World Events. I am addicted to the opinion pages in the newspaper. I have opinions of my own, and I think they are Right. And yet, when it comes to writing.... so far, I write about housework, or baking cookies, or The Dog. This morning, as we were just at the cusp of our morning walk and play time (right at the place where she usually pees) I suddenly noticed the leash was kind of light, especially for a sixty pound dog. At about the same time Scout also noticed that the leash was light (actually it had come off the harness) and took off after a rabbit. I ran (or limped, actually) over to the gate so that Scout would not run out. In the meantime and for the first time ever, Scout caught a rabbit. And she was (shall I say) proud of herself, but not so proud that she was going to let me get near enough to take it away from her.

It also meant that when I said, "Scout, Come!" in my brightest, most dog-appealing voice, she just laid down and looked at me. And licked the rabbit.

At least she looked at me.

Every once in awhile she would pick up the rabbit and take it to another part of the yard. A couple of times she let me come very near (that's very good for a dog who was formerly extremely possessive) and would sit for me while I gave her a treat. But I could tell from her posture that she regarded the rabbit as hers. She wasn't going to do the the friendly Golden Retriever "here's what I caught for you" kind of thing. She was, if provoked going to defend this rabbit with whatever kind of scare tactics she could think of. It could be an interesting morning.

But one thing is -- she didn't seem interested in eating the rabbit. She just carried it around in her mouth and licked it and chewed it a little (maybe wondering if it would squeak, like one of her toys?)

Now we are not veteran dog owners. I'm a cat owner from way back. I had a fat blended-Siamese cat for about 18 years. My husband had cats too, but now he's allergic. What possessed us to get a dog is a subject for another post. But what I'm saying is: I was not an expert, going in, on things like Dominance, Possessiveness, "Alpha", training (other than potty training), body language. We had a little dog when I was a teenager, but he never caught a rabbit. So I'm still not sure I have the right instincts about what to do in certain situations.

We did finally find a way to remove Scout from the rabbit. Now maybe that was a mean thing to do. Maybe we should have just left her there all morning, hunched over. Or maybe we should be meaner than we are. Maybe if we were really good dog trainers, we would have a dog that would catch a rabbit, and then run over to us, and drop it at our feet, smiling.

But we don't. We have Scout, the wonder dog. She's not perfect, but then, I'm not perfect either. Maybe that's why we're Right For Each Other.