Rowan Spends Time With his Guardian

Yesterday when us dogs were woofing on the internets my good friend Grendel (butt sniffs to you Grendel) told me that it would be nice to know more about The Last Day. So sad to report that one of Grendel’s cat friends recently had her Last Day and so it’s a subject of some importance for Grendel.

I guess it’s only natural for all of us who are breathing to want to know what happens when we stop. Towards this end I held my breath for awhile but nothing happened. That’s how I came to believe that there’s more to The Last Day than stopping breathing. But that bit of information didn’t explain much and I had lots of questions.

First I looked for the answers in my toy box, but there were only toys in there. And I looked for the answers in my bowl, but there was only food in it. Then I went outside and looked for the answers in the pretty stars. The stars did twinkle on me and make me happy, but they didn’t have the answers which eluded me all day either.

Finally, as a last resort, I went to my allknowing guardian. I suppose I could have gone to my guardian first. But, as you all know, I’m an independent boy. I like to think I can do things on my own.

My guardian picked me up and held me close, and she revealed to me the secrets of The Last Day:

“Rowan,” she said, “The Last Day will be the best day of your life.”

I didn’t really believe that because I’ve had some pretty good days. I’ve been to The Ranch, and I’ve been to The Gulf Of Mexico, and I’ve got lots of friends on account of being real popular and everything. But, I put up my big dog ears and kept listening.

My guardian talked in a special kind of voice that made me know that she was going to tell me something real important.

“Listen,” she said, “I want you to use your imagination because The Last Day is going to be so much fun that I can’t describe it as anything except an imaginary place, so different from our own world that I hardly have words for it.”

Now that was surprising for me because my guardian uses words all the time. She knows lots of them.

Then she went on by saying, “On The Last Day you will start to feel tired, and you will long for a good nap with all your heart. You may choose to stretch out in the cool grass, or curl up on your favorite pillow.”

Then I got an idea to say something! “I want to sleep with you,” I said and I jumped up and down and ran some circles around my guardian’s chair. I felt real good about my big idea but my guardian just sat there. Then I got back in my guardian’s lap.

I heard somewhere that if you are spending time with your guardian and you suddenly get all silly and start jumping and running and stuff, it’s OK. Just go right back to your guardian over and over. It’s OK.

So, when I was back in my guardian’s lap she petted me and smiled. I wanted to hear more about The Last Day real bad so I put my head on her shoulder and licked her ear. I was real quiet.

Then she said, “It doesn’t matter where you sleep dear Rowan, as long as you dream. Because you are going to have a wonderful dream.”

I couldn’t wait to hear what the dream was about so I asked, “Oh, what’s it about, please tell me, what’s the dream about?” And I got all wiggly and twisty and begged my guardian to reveal the contents of the dream to me. I wanted to know SO badly. But, my guardian just sat there and smiled. Then I got back in my guardian’s lap.

I think sometimes humans get all twisty and wiggly when they are with their guardians too. If that happens to you, it’s OK. Just get back in your guardian’s lap over and over. It’s alright.*

Then my guardian said, “Imagine you are in the best place you’ve ever been, you feel strong and alert, you are at the top of your game. You might even be running, or just walking along the shore.”

I thought real hard about that and I got an image of me looking real good and running the special way I do when I am happy: step, step, leap, step, step, leap…like that. Also, I imagined myself in my best pose because I do want to look good on The Last Day. And I was rather enjoying thinking about myself when my guardian continued:

“If you look around,” she said, “you will start to see other animals, you will recognize them and maybe even stop to play with them. All your friends from the blog will be there, your fellow canine bishops will be there, and +Maya too. You’ll see Romeo and Buddy. And your human friends will be there too.”

By this time I still didn’t know all that much about The Last Day but I had been in my guardian’s lap for a long time and I was starting to think about treats so, in a real holy kind of voice, I woofed into my guardian’s ear, “How about some treats?” And just to show that I’m a good communicator I ran into the kitchen to make my point. But my guardian just sat there. So, I wandered around the kitchen by myself for a minute and then I went and got back in my guardian’s lap. Again.

My guardian told me that one of the humans I would probably see is a nice fellow by the name of Martin Luther. He’s what Grendel would call a Major Dog Acceptor. Lindy showed me a picture of him once. I think he would be a nice petter. The very special thing about Martin Luther is that he is the one who gives us dogs our little golden tails. ** So, remember that dog friends. If you see Martin Luther be sure to ask him for a golden tail because, well, it would just be so swell to have one! Plus, he will probably pet us!

After that maybe you can see Jesus and, a’course he’s going to be all happy and laughing and everything. Jesus will definitely give us pets, I feel fairly confident of that. And Jesus’ mother will be there to welcome us to Dog Heaven. Saint Roch, Saint Francis, and MadPriest will be there too naturally and they will all play with us. I am sure one of them will have treats.

I was interested quite a lot at this point and my imaginary dream was going along pretty nicely so real quietly I said to my guardian, “You can tell me more, I am here.”

She smiled at me. I like that.

Then my guardian said, “Remember when I asked you to use your imagination?” And I thought real hard. But, it’s hard for me to remember everything she says and I was mainly thinking about treats again. “It’s alright,” she said. What I want you to know is that the dream is your own, it can progress however you want, and on The Last Day the dream will be real.”

Well, obviously, I have a bunch of things to think about. I still have lots of questions. But I am not concerned about The Last Day too much anymore. Like my human friends, I am now totally distracted and have forgotten where my guardian is.

As for The Last Day, until I get all the particulars worked out about all I can say for sure is, See You There.

Love,

Rowan

* "If you did nothing the whole of your hour but bring back your heart patiently and put it near your Lord again, and every time you put it back it turned away again, your hour would be well employed." Francois de Sales


** "Be thou comforted, little dog, Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail" Martin Luther