Journey

Job and His friends attempted to reason and understand the ways of God - and there are some
principles they got right. For instance, Elihu in Job 35 said this:
9 "Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry out for help because of the arm of the mighty.
10 But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,
11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, And makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?'
12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, Because of the pride of evil men.

The warning here is against self-sufficiency.  We can become so consumed in our own achievement and reliance on our human ingenuity and creativity that we ignore what God would want to do in our lives.  He is the Creator God - God my Maker, and He demonstrates His mighty power through His creation.  He teaches us far more than this world could ever show us, and it's important we lay down our human pride and self-reliance, so that we can see the fullness of His glory expressed through us.

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Our creator God demonstrates His majesty through His creation.  Psalm 145 relates how He is
glorified through His mighty works, which includes not only the beauty of humanity, but other created beings as well:
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.
10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You.

We certainly love our pets; we recently had to say goodbye to our cat, who had been a wonderful member of our family for around a decade.  We can certainly be thankful to the Lord for those temporary blessings.

Today, I want to talk about the journey of a particular dog, expressed on the big screen, and the spiritual journey of a particular writer, who experienced success early on in his career, but that success caused him to lose his way.

You may remember the ABC sitcom, 8 Simple Rules.  That was based on a book called, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter - the author was Bruce Cameron.  That was so successful that Bruce began to think about how great a writer he was.  A Religion News article relates:

Putting himself at the center of his artistic universe soon took him off his career path. “I lost track of my spiritual relationship with God,” Cameron said. “I just thought, I don’t need his help. As it turns out, I do.” But overall, Cameron has relied on his Christian faith to anchor his work...

Cameron said in a Christian Post interview that after the TV show, "everything kind of went dark on us," and then...

“I thought, it's because I've been arrogant because I thought I was doing this all on my own. So I prayed to God and said, 'I can't do this without your help.' Within days of that, the whole story, 'A Dog's Purpose' just came into my head when I needed it. That has never happened before,” he said.

That book became a film, and now there is a sequel that hit theatres a couple of weeks ago, A Dog's Journey.  The film follows the golden retriever Bailey, voiced by Josh Gad, as he acts as a "guardian angel," as Religion News puts it, for CJ, who is the granddaughter of Ethan, who is played by Dennis Quaid.

Yes, the dog does go through multiple lives, but, according to Religion News, Cameron told the Christian Post, “I would urge Christians not to take it too seriously. After all, the movie opens with a talking dog, so clearly it is a fanciful tale.”  The Religion News story says:

Like the first movie, “A Dog’s Journey” plumbs dark topics, including domestic abuse, alcohol abuse, and child abandonment, all as a route to portray themes of redemption and forgiveness.

The article states that actor Dennis Quaid, who starred in the film, I Can Only Imagine, "said the movie is about more than faith. He said audiences can connect their own stories and relationships with their own dogs to the ones in the movie."

We can be reminded of several things from this information.  First of all, creation testifies to the greatness and presence of God; animals are part of that equation, and pets can be tremendous blessings.  Animals can also be used for purposes of assistance and even comfort.  God, in His wisdom, created and sustained the animal kingdom for His glory.

And, we recognize that we can know Someone who goes with us and is present on our own journey.  Regarding Cameron's journey, we have to remember to stay humble and identify and follow the inspiration to do what God calls us to do.  God wants us to have success on His terms, and we have to be cautious of the worldly success that can sidetrack us on our journey.