Bruno is a dog. Last Monday was not one of his tail-wagging days. He was taken to the doggy parlour to have him bathed, shampooed and trimmed.
The day took a huge chunk off his energy and the next day he decided to take time off. He reckoned that while watching the house, he might just as well take a nap on the veranda.
He was about to doze off when a faint noise alerted him. His eyes opened, but it took a while for his brain to kick in.
There in front of his right eye, he noticed a flea on the tip of his nose. “Hey, Bruno, what happened? You smell kind of funny, dog.”
“Hi, Flip-flop, speak up, boy, I can’t hear you. What’s up?”
Flip-flop raised his voice a pitch higher. “Bruno, yesterday I took the day off lying in your bed. I’ve just climbed back onto you again, a flea has to feed, you know. However, the food tastes horrible and I can’t find any of my friends. Where are they? Dog, where have you been yesterday?”
“Well, Flip-flop, I was taken to a parlour, without my consent of course, and I was bathed and trimmed for no reason at all.”
“Nooo…!” said Flip-flop. “That means all my friends are gone! I will never see them again!” In shock, he tightened his grip on Bruno’s nose.
The tightened grip caused Bruno to sneeze, and what a sneeze it was!
The sneeze sent Flip-flop somersaulting through the air with his two hind legs jumping and pumping in the air. He was smashed hard against the opposite wall of the veranda. If you look closely, you would find a small speck of a flea plastered against that wall, outstretched legs and all.
How rude to leave a conversation without saying goodbye, Bruno thought.
He didn’t waste more time thinking and lay down on his side to resume his job as watchdog. “I must say, the itching has disappeared mysteriously. I’m feeling quite nice now. Where was I? Oh yes, dreaming about chasing the neighbour’s cat. Good to be a dog! ” he mumbled, dozing off.
What has this story to do with a Christian newsletter…? Absolutely nothing.
We may read normal fictitious little stories as Christians, watch fictitious movies, have a real holiday and sometimes just chill like Bruno did. Sometimes we struggle to cope in the harsh realities we find ourselves in, losing our grip on life. Sometimes we think that in order for us to be good Christians, we have to be serious all the time. Not at all!
God created us to live, smiling… with Jesus at our side, smiling as we do!