Lent: Day 1

My dumpster rat died. That's how I started my morning.

We have had this rat (possibly plural) nesting near our dumpsters. This would make most people recoil in fear or disgust, but my chihuahua/dachshund mix named Meeka takes great entertainment in hunting for the rat. I obviously don't let her catch it or even get near it, but she still looks forward to going on a rat hunt every night. It is kind of cute considering they are about the same size. It would be a fair fight. Anyway, I am a sucker for consistency and I love that this rat is part of our routine. I love routine.

This morning, the rat was laying in the middle of the drive. Meeka thought this was her lucky day. I kept her away, of course, but the poor little thing seemed dead. And then it moved its little brown head. My heart broke. My heart broke for the dumpster rat. I wanted nothing more than to help put it out of its misery. It had provided my dog with months of entertainment and I felt like I owed it something. I cried for the rat and sang a line of "All creatures of our God and King". I cried for the dumpster rat. I'm not usually like this.

I asked Henry if there was anything we could do, but we couldn't think of a quick remedy that would ensure success. When I came home this afternoon, the rat was gone (dead, I'm sure).

Why did I cry over a dumpster rat? Am I that tied to God's creation, or is it my intense desire for consistency and routine? Maybe it is a little bit of both (or maybe it's this new medicine I'm on).

The above anecdote has almost nothing to do with lent. I don't have any specific plans for the season, but I would like to become a more spiritual person in general. I'd like to make more time to pray and spend less time self obsessing and more time focused on pleasing meditations (Philipians 4:8 (NIV) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.).