They Shoot Horses, that is, Dogs, Don’t They?
Abbie and I were out for a walk the other evening and on the way back to the house, we ran into our next-door neighbor, Dona Ester. Had to catch up on all the news around the neighborhood, of course, and in time, the conversation got around to her sister-in-law, who lives one house over. One day recently we remarked to each other that we hadn't seen that neighbor for quite a while, and later that day I had seen her getting into a car, but she was using a walker. I wondered what her problem might have been.
Dona Ester informed us that her sister-in-law was bitten in the calf of her leg by one of their dogs almost two years ago, and it has never healed. The infection went deep, and she even had to have an operation. Even though there is no fever and she doesn't have diabetes, the wounds refuse to heal. The doctors are stumped, but Dona Ester has the solution...kill the dog. "The leg will not heal unless the dog is put down." It's what has been handed down from generation to generation. I was telling Paz, one of the sisters in the church, about this lady, and before I could get to the "punch line", she asked, "Have they killed the dog?"
In the thirty years we've lived here, we've heard so many of the islanders' traditions and superstitions...thought we'd heard them all, but I guess not. Everyone seems to have a story about someone who was bitten by a dog and never recovered as long as the dog was alive. I can't see any logical connection between putting the dog down and the neighbor's leg getting better, but nothing else has worked.
Of course, the world has a problem understanding the logic behind the gospel---a Jew is crucified in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago, and somehow that makes the difference in the eternal destiny of every human being, even those of us alive today. The short answer is that God's logic isn't our logic; faith accepts even when it can't explain, but that doesn't make the gospel any less true.
While I can't see a scientific explanation for the logic of the people regarding dog bites, on general principles, I think I would have gotten rid of any dog that bit my leg, anyway. I don't know about my leg, but the rest of me would feel better not having that kind of dog around.
Dona Ester informed us that her sister-in-law was bitten in the calf of her leg by one of their dogs almost two years ago, and it has never healed. The infection went deep, and she even had to have an operation. Even though there is no fever and she doesn't have diabetes, the wounds refuse to heal. The doctors are stumped, but Dona Ester has the solution...kill the dog. "The leg will not heal unless the dog is put down." It's what has been handed down from generation to generation. I was telling Paz, one of the sisters in the church, about this lady, and before I could get to the "punch line", she asked, "Have they killed the dog?"
In the thirty years we've lived here, we've heard so many of the islanders' traditions and superstitions...thought we'd heard them all, but I guess not. Everyone seems to have a story about someone who was bitten by a dog and never recovered as long as the dog was alive. I can't see any logical connection between putting the dog down and the neighbor's leg getting better, but nothing else has worked.
Of course, the world has a problem understanding the logic behind the gospel---a Jew is crucified in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago, and somehow that makes the difference in the eternal destiny of every human being, even those of us alive today. The short answer is that God's logic isn't our logic; faith accepts even when it can't explain, but that doesn't make the gospel any less true.
While I can't see a scientific explanation for the logic of the people regarding dog bites, on general principles, I think I would have gotten rid of any dog that bit my leg, anyway. I don't know about my leg, but the rest of me would feel better not having that kind of dog around.
posted by EP | 12:37 AM | Permalink
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