Ben the Hero!

On Sunday Night we invited the pastoral staff over for a pre-Memorial Day Barbeque. (Well, it wasn’t really a barbeque, because my grill is broken and I can’t find the replacement parts. But that’s another story. UGH!) Anyway, the staff came over for a little food, fun and swimming in the icy waters of the Prince Pool.

At Karla’s request, Pastor Jamie brought his dog, Riley. Karla thought that Riley and Maggie (the Prince Pooch) would have great fun playing together. She believed that Maggie needed a new friend. While Maggie has never indicated to me that she lacked fellow canine companionship, I certainly did not object to the idea of Maggie playing with a new puppy friend instead of “hounding” the rest of us for food and attention.

You need to know a few things about Riley. Pastor Jamie and Heather think he is a mix between Chihuahua and Jack Russell terrier. He is the size of a Chihuahua, but looks like a Jack Russell. About six months old, Riley is still very much a puppy and very cute. If you know much about the various dog breeds then you know that both Chihuahua’s and Jack Russell’s tend to be a little active. Anyone who has been around puppies of any kind knows that they tend to be a little active too. So with that combo of Chihuahua/Jack Russell mix and being a puppy-- think of Riley as a doggy version of an A.D.H.D., whirling dervish. Einstein was wrong, it’s not E = MC2, its E = Riley!

Well, Jamie brought Riley and this is what happened:

No sooner had Riley set his paws in our back yard, he started chasing Maggie. Maggie, not quite sure she liked this barking ball of energy, retreated to the far side of the pool. Riley was in hot pursuit, when he reached the pool. It’s my assumption that Riley had never seen a swimming pool in his six months of life, but apparently he is a believer in the fact that the closest route between two points is a straight line. Or maybe because of the fine theological influence of our own Pastor Jamie, Riley asked himself, “What would Jesus do?” and determined that Jesus would have walked on the water to get to Maggie. Whatever his thought process, in a split second Riley was making like Greg Louganis and dove into our pool.

Riley didn’t respond as Jesus would. And he’s no doggy version of Ian Thorpe either—maybe more like a doggy brick or a doggy anchor. Riley quickly found himself in the middle of the deep end of the pool (I think he got there on pure momentum from the swan dive), trying to dog paddle but not proving to be very successful in his efforts.

Karla, meanwhile fearful that we might have the first swimming pool casualty, was trying to say to anyone within listening distance to get the long handled, pool skimming tool to pull Riley out of the water, but she only managed to stutter, “Get…get….get… get…” All the while, Riley was swallowing more and more of our over-chlorinated pool water. Ben (my thirteen year old dog lover) had seen and heard enough. Ben can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound and he’s not faster than a speeding bullet, but in a move that would have made both Aqua-man and David Hasselhoff (the Baywatch dude) proud, Ben dove into the frigid water, grabbed Riley and saved the day! FYI-- no mouth to mouth was needed.

All the participants seemed to survive the ordeal. Riley was wet and cold, but did not seem any worse for the wear and it didn’t take him long to go regain his non-stop running, yapping, whirling dervish self. Ben, quite proud of his heroic efforts, is waiting for some kind of special commendation from PETA and has new friends in Riley and Heather. And the rest of us are happy that it was Ben that jumped in the cold waters, that Riley is OK, and that no one had to give a dog mouth to mouth resuscitation.

I tell you all of that because I know some people who are a lot like Riley. Not the A.D.H.D., whirling dervish part and not the non-stop yapping and running part—but finding themselves in deep water and not knowing how to get out part. It seems every week I talk to someone who is in over their head with problems, debt, trials, sickness, sin, you name it. Barely treading water, they don’t know what to do or where to turn.

Isaiah quotes God saying:
"Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God.” (Isaiah 43:1-3. New Living Translation)

It’s a great quote and some of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. Next time you find yourself in deep waters, know that God is with you. Do not be afraid. You are not alone. You don’t need “Super Ben” to rescue you—the Lord has said, “You are mine.” You can always count on Him to help you to overcome the deep waters, the burning flames, the troubling times!