Let sleeping dogs, well, sleep.

July 2, 2008 in The devoted life | Tags: david teems, devotion, faithfulness, friendship, sleep, sleeping dogs, tiredness

Note: We received the following story from one of our readers [the picture above was included with it]. It was too good to pass up. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. —David

ONE DAY A DOG WANDERED INTO MY YARD. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly walked over to me, like we were old friends. I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar:

“I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.”

The next day he arrived for his nap, but with a different note pinned to his collar:

“He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3. He’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?”

Quotes from the book

AND THEREBY HANGS A TALE

If they couldn’t sniff it, chase it, eat it, play with it, chew on it, growl at it, lick, love, or bury it, they had little use for it.
—David Teems

Always adventurous, love approaches the heart of its beloved as if it were the last remaining frontier.
—David Teems

Love’s whole idea is union, the lightness of true possession.
—David Teems

But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
— Job 12:7-8 NKJV [book epigraph]

Love for God is ecstatic, making us go out from ourselves: it does not allow the lover to belong any more to himself, but He belongs only to the Beloved.
—Saint Dionysius the Areopagite

It shows the certainty by which God is joined to me, like a tincture of color in a glass of water. God disperses himself in me. A unity that cannot be called back.
—David Teems

May life be stick-your-head-out-of-the-car-window-let-the-wind-blow-in-your-face kind of good!
—David Teems

If you want to know God, enjoy the company of lovers.
—Rumi

Dogs register no need to theorize about love (or about anything else, for that matter) they just show it.
—Jeffrey Masson

The load they bear is lighter,
Than the one we bear, ‘tis true.
They have four legs to carry theirs;
We have only two.
—David Teems

Next to a good marriage, a dog is the best thing on four legs.
—David Teems

The dog is the only being that loves you more than you love yourself.
—Fritz von Unruh

It has been said that dogs have no souls. Maybe it does or doesn’t matter. It’s not an argument I care to make. But my question would be, how could any creature love so purely without one? It is difficult to imagine a heaven without their kind.
—David Teems

Dog love is love.
—Marjorie Garber

. . . they are perfectly content to be who they are, without torturing themselves with alternatives: They love being dogs.
—Jeffrey masson

By inspiration, love gives the plainest of speech a touch of miracle. The simplest of words, in the simplest of constructions sing with an undeniable poetry. There is no finer lyric than, “I love you.” Or the great opera of a kiss.
—David Teems

To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character.
—Thomas Merton

Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.
—Milan Kundera

Nothing a dog does is arbitrary, or frivolous, even in play. Every moment counts because the moment is all there is. She is able to love like there’s no tomorrow, because she has no tomorrow. It is not a cliché to the dog.
—David Teems

With gentle command, love looks into the hidden places of the heart, as if looking for home. It is a threat to my isolation.
—David Teems

I prithee, sweet wag!
—William Shakespeare

And once intimacy and inspiration meet and agree together, paradise has come again.
—David Teems

He possessed each moment fully, squeezing out of each of them a kind of nectar, a sweetness that nature provides for those who really pay attention.
—David Teems

I have understanding, which is better than information. I have true wisdom, which is better than knowledge. I have peace, which is better than the mere absence of struggle. I have love, which is above all things.
—David Teems

All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers is contained in the dog.
—Franz Kafka

3 comments

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July 3, 2008 at 11:14 pm

Jason Elkins

David,

I can see you actually letting this dog into your home, with a warm smile and some kind words.

This was the best story I’ve read in a month. Great stuff my friend, I actually laughed out loud.

Jason

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July 15, 2008 at 9:22 am

ShipOfTides

Enchanting story….Enchanting measure of a man… -smile-

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July 15, 2008 at 10:20 am

David Teems

Dogs have a way of breaking through all the artificial, all the paint and wood of our surfaces. They deal with essences. I dig that about them. They seek the authentic, because they live authentically. Quite an enviable state.

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