Jenny Plays Ball Her Own Way

Jenny Dog has her own ways of playing ball. Rather than teaching her our conventional way of playing ball -- us throwing it and her running to get it and bringing it back and giving it to us -- we've adopted her games.

For example, if I have one ball, the game goes like this. I throw the ball, and Jenny Dog runs and gets it. She runs back with the ball, but stays just out of reach. As I move toward her to get the ball, she moves further away, so it turns into a new game, "Chase Jenny to Get the Ball." Knowing I can't win that game, I turn away, appearing disinterested. She then comes back close, but not close enough for me to get the ball. If I appear to give up and sit in my chair, she'll often come and drop the ball at my feet and stare at me until I pick up the ball and throw it. Then the game starts all over again.

So I've added an adaptation. I get two balls. I throw the first ball and Jenny Dog goes and gets it and brings it back. When she gets close, I throw the second ball. She drops the first ball to retrieve the second one. So we keep this up until she gets tired and decides to quit bringing the balls back.

I know I could train her to play ball the conventional way. After all, I'm the master and she's just the dog. But I enjoy that she has a mind of her own and that when we play ball it's a thoughtful interaction -- truly a game -- and not just a trained response on her part.

Often we seek to reduce interactions with pets to thoughtless reactions. And it doesn't take much imagination to recognize that we attempt to do the same with people. By subtle and not-so-subtle means, we attempt to train those with whom we have regular interactions to react the way we want -- to play by our rules. We recognize this behavior when it's extreme -- we call it abuse or manipulation.

Isn't it interesting that God, the Master of all, doesn't choose to dominate us and in so doing chooses not to train us to just react. Instead God gives us great freedom in how we choose to respond to him. What he desires from us is thoughtful interaction, thoughtful response. Our love for him and our obedience to his commands comes as the result of thoughtful decisions on our part, not as a result of force or even behavior modification.

Without thought, without thoughtful decisions, I'm unable to interact with God.