Obedience

Once upon a time, "obedient" wouldn't have been a word anyone could use to describe Mr. Tommy.

Obedience was not one of his qualities. Insubordination and rebelliousness would have been better words to describe him.

Travel with us now in the Wayback Machine to the winter of 1978. Mr. Tommy had a lady friend who earned her living by grooming and training dogs.

Long story somewhat foreshortened, Mr. Tommy ended up with a very exotic canine: Enter "Sir Alexis Grande' Goodpuppy," a white, full-sized, energetic, fully mature Standard Poodle.

He wore the traditional poodle hairdo, with large puffy balls of hair on the feet, the ears, the tail, and the head. At almost three feet tall, he was one impressive dog, handsome and beautiful.

Alex was also a handful. He was strong, quick, intelligent, impressive in many ways, and he was one nervous Poodle.

He escaped, often. He knew how to open several kinds of door latches. His long legs quickly carried him far and wide. He chewed carpet and furniture. He weighed more than 50 pounds and ate accordingly. He was not unfriendly, but the temptation to nip was always on his agenda.

It was quickly apparent that Mr. Tommy was in this over his head with this dog, so he went back to his lady friend for advice.

"You and Alex should come to obedience classes," she suggested. "Starts next week in the city park, and costs $25 for 10 weekly lessons."

Of course, Mr. Tommy presumed from the title of the class that it would be the dog which learned to be obedient.

This was true to a certain extent. Even though he was full-grown and even though he was a bundle of nerves and had emotional baggage and a collection of bad habits, Alex responded quite well to the leash and the verbal and hand commands he was eventually taught.

He responded, that is, after Mr. Tommy got it through his own thick head that the dog's trainer must first be obedient to the tenets of canine training as they were being presented in the Kennel Club classes.

Alex learned to come, sit, heel, stay, speak, shake hands, roll over, all of that. But not until Mr. Tommy learned a few things.

The instructor had put emphasis on daily work sessions with the dog. If you don't spend some time with the animal at least five out of seven days, the teacher said, what time you do spend with him will be wasted. The trainer and the dog will be starting all over, every time.

Mr. Tommy learned that Alex couldn't learn a thing if Alex was locked in the garage all day and ignored all night. Nothing ever improved under those conditions.

Grudgingly, Mr. Tommy learned to take the dog for at least one walk per day. Repetition and firm consistency were indeed how the dog learned.

Gradually, the once-recalcitrant Mr. Tommy came to look forward to the daily sessions, events which would have looked to an observer like nothing more than casual walks in the park.

As time went on, the effect of routine and regulation played a positive role not just for the dog, but also for Mr. Tommy.

With Alex, it was less and less "obedience training" all the time, and more and more obedience observance.

How thrilling it was to walk beside a stylish dog who knew how to heel, who didn't thrash about and bump into his owner. Alex became very attentive, very eager to learn, and very defensive of his owner.

It was a stone pleasure to strut (as if Mr. Tommy could strut) around town with a big, beautiful, well-behaved, well-groomed poodle. It was a hoot. It was healing, thinly disguised.

Eventually, things changed and Alex had to move to Seattle to live with a wealthy physician and his family. But he left behind a contrite and obedient former owner.

Although Mr. Tommy has fallen away at times from the benefits and pleasures of obedience, what he learned in those obedience classes and sessions in the park has always stayed with him. It was a humble beginning.

Obedience, you see, is freedom.

A synonym for obedience is submission. In the Roman Catholic Church, obedience is the Church's jurisdiction, and the obedient are all those who submit to this jurisdiction.

Recalcitrant Catholics are not happy Catholics. Rebellious Catholics are butting their heads against a solid wall. Truly staunch Catholics are obedient Catholics.

Obedience means submission to God, to His Church.

But obedience does not take away anything. Obedience does not diminish the individual, but strengthens him.

Obedience does not cause sin, it guards against it, prevents it. Obedience, prudently practiced, lifts the weight of the world from one's shoulders.

Obedience does not compromise the personality, or self-identity, or individuality, or creativity. Obedience facilitates these things. Jesus says "Be not afraid," and this would include an irrational fear of obedience.

Just think. One launching point for Mr. Tommy's spiritual quest was "obedience classes" for dogs in a little city park in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Thanks, Alex.

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Word of the week: Amen. It comes from Latin, Greek and Hebrew, meaning truly or certainly. To us, it's similar to Captain Picard's order, "Make it so." It is a word used after a prayer or to express approval. When Jesus says, "Amen, amen, I say to you . . . ," he is saying, "Truly, truly . . ."

Amen.

Next week's word: Circum.