Puppy Fight

The puppies have been chasing

each other around the yard.

They run until tackled

by one or the other.

Sometimes the impact

scares me.

They hit tables, chairs,

the side of the pool.

This goes on until

one gets too rough,

and the other one

gets mad, then

they fight.

This is when I

step in as the parent,

as the leader of the pack.

I tell them

to stop.

I usually

yell this.

Sometimes two or three times.

This just happened

a few minutes ago.

Kerouac was chasing Izzy,

who had an old shoe

in her mouth,

taunting Kerouac,

saying, “Na, nana, boo, boo."

And Kerouac took the bait.

He snapped for it.

But Izzy was too fast—she’s always

faster than him, and she

took off running

through the Redneck Rivera.

But things changed during this chase.

Kerouac tackled Izzy.

She did not like

being tackled by him,

so she gave him

a couple of combinations

left, right, left, right.

Just like that.

This is why they

call them Boxers.

But their growls

were deeper, angrier,

until a full-blown fight

had broken out.

So I stepped in and stopped the fight.

They both backed off.

They stared one

another down.

Both had set eyes, set jaws,

and I figured

the fight would

begin again.

But they both squatted

and peed, and then

started playing again.

It was hilarious—unexpected.

I laughed, not knowing

what the simultaneous peeing meant.

Maybe it’s a white flag,

a truce in a puppy fight,

in a puppy world.

I’m not sure.

But we have these

kinds of fights in churches.

A lot of growling, someone gets too rough,

someone gets their

feelings hurt or

we try a few power plays,

take a few swings,

a combination—gossip, insult, gossip, insult.

Just like that.

Then we blow up.

We get a little mad.

And it escalates into a

full-blown church fight.

We’re no different than puppies--

brothers and sisters

in the Lord. We can

fight and taunt

and do all manner

of things

to get our way.

Church can be

a nasty place.

Innocent people get hurt.

Because there’s never a

right or wrong

in a church fight.

Just people being misunderstood.

Just people being stupid

with God’s love.

So the next time

we feel tempted

to fight, to argue,

and be like pups,

let’s just faceoff

and pee.

All of us will

feel relieved.

Sound crude?

I thought so too.

James 4:1
[ Submit Yourselves to God ] What causes

fights and quarrels among you?

Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?