“If you don't take inventory of your blessings, ingratitude will try to steal them from you.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo

It's Monday, May 4, 2020, and life as we know it continues. Over these past many weeks we have pretty much worn out the word unprecedented. The meaning has to do with something that has never been done or known before. Now we move on to the word normal. This one may be a little more tricky since my normal may be different than your normal. It typically refers to the usual, the typical, or the expected. Mr. Bentley has shown signs of being impacted by all of this stay at home business. He, at times, wants us to know, as they used to say back home, he is bored out of his gourd. I most likely said that for a long time before I ever saw my first gourd. The gourd is a plant that produces large hard-shelled fruit. I understand some are edible, but, the ones I saw were typically not. (I remember some of our relatives who lived out in the sticks and they used a dried split gourd for dipping water out of the drinking pail.) At any rate, Mr. Bentley sometimes fakes a need to go outside for the purpose of 'going outside'. He pretty much is not into binge-watching the Midsomer Murders series on TV. He does enjoy napping, however, binge napping has even messed up his night sleep cycle. The good news is how we are slowly coming out of this imposed curtailment of activity. It is a welcome change. The other evening we were meeting with our Church choir and orchestra via Zoom and our director asked for individual testimonies of things they had been inspired by or blessings they had enjoyed during this crisis. The wife leaned over to me and said, "We've not had any fights." I didn't see that one on the Governor's schedule but in getting back to 'normal', I suppose it may be a coming attraction.

I've mentioned before how Mr. Bentley has been good company as we have been mostly operating behind closed doors. The wife and I have also been entertained by his shenanigans. He has made us laugh. Often. We call him our hilarious dog. He acts like he knows he is the center of attraction. Our home is his domain. I can remember as a kid growing up that no pets of any kind were allowed in the house. Period. I also remember a time or two when everything was frozen up that Paw Paw reluctantly agreed to let the two dogs come in long enough to warm up. We had a big space heater in the living room. We had to literally drag them in because they very much knew they were not supposed to be in the house. We stood them in front of the heater and tried to keep them calmed down. At first, they were shivering mostly from the cold. A little later, they were shivering because they were still scared. Before you write to me, know they had a place to sleep up under the house and they had old rags to bundle up with. I thought about those dogs whenever Mr. Bentley was faking a need to go outside. My how things have changed. I'm sort of glad Paw Paw doesn't know about it. (Back in those days I can't remember ever hearing the weather person telling people to bring in their plants and pets. I think that's mostly because no one did.)

There are 23 different passages in the Bible that mention dogs. Most prevalent is the word dog used as a metaphor for a worthless person. However, we do have the dogs pictured by our Savior as bringing comfort to the poor beggar Lazarus. The mistreatment of animals for sport or any other reason is prohibited in The Scriptures. "A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." (Proverbs 12:10) I believe people who value the life of any animal including their beloved pet above the life of a human being has misplaced their understanding of God's plan and purpose. We see this played out all the time in our society today where people shed tears over the abuse of animals but applaud the killing of unborn babies. And, may I say to you, (a frequent term used by the late great Bible expositor, Dr. J. Vernon MaGee), it appears that this attitude is gaining ground as it permeates our society today. Check it out. Decide for yourself. Google what California is currently proposing as guaranteed rights for children that will be provided without parental notification or involvement. The list would have been called perversions not that many years ago. Take that list and compare it to the laws they have protecting animals. Something is very wrong with that picture. Okay. I'm climbing down now. Off my high horse. That's what they used to call it when someone would wax on and on in pontificating their views. May God Help. We do need for Him to do so. Amen. .....More later.