Out Our Way: Get along, little dogie! - Deuteronomy 33:12

Out our way, February is calving season. Soon the grasslands will be filled with the sounds of calves bawling and mama cows soothing with quiet and comforting lowing. Later, when the grazing lands are freer from the frost and ice, Charlie and I will start riding the area and get "acquainted." 

I have shared this before, but I am always amazed at how cattle - who are not the sharpest tool in the toolbox - have the ability and indeed the desire to not only look after their own young, but the new offspring of their neighbors. I have shared with you my utter amazement when I learned cows babysit for each other ... one cow will stay with the calves while the other cows go off to graze and gather at the creek or reservoir. 

I have also shared with you how placid and seemingly timid cows will become fiercely aggressive when protecting calves. Recall the story of the friend who was teasing a young calf and disregarded his mama's warning snorts, pawing the ground, and shaking her head. Fortunately he was close to a tall corral fence and was able to quickly climb up and over when mama charged. Even I saw how foolish he was to "mess with mama."

Out our way, we have coyotes and the occasional mountain lion to deal with, and while Charlie and I can and will handle such critters if we run across them on our range, we are not there 24/7. But Mama is ... and she is not alone. There are a lot of mamas in the herd which begin to bond into what appears to me to be an extended family in time. 

Coyotes and mountain lions are not stupid. They tend to run off when Charlie and I come riding along, but they also tend to give mama and the rest of the herd a wide margin. It is only the "dogies" - motherless calves or those foolish enough to have left the herd and mama behind - and Charlie and I try to head them back to Mama and the herd and safety.

That's why Big Mike sends Charlie and me out to check the herd, ride fence, and hunt for strays. That is why God sends prophets, apostles, teachers and preachers into the world as well. Like the lost calf who has lost all sense of direction, the woman or man who has wandered off from God is easy prey. "Little calf, you are no match for a cougar or a pack of coyotes. But you don't understand that and so need someone to help you find the trail back to home and safety."

Sadly, not all "herds" are safe. Many a calf has been "run out" by bullies and complacent herds just look the other way. And more than once Charlie and I have had to deal with the lead cow, the matriarch, who is not always wise and sometimes leads the rest of the herd in the wrong direction. Charlie and I ride and pound leather to cut her off and turn her and the herd back, but sometimes we fail. Calves die of hunger, thirst, and predators when they abandon the herd or when the herd fails them. 

We read of Church organizations and pastors who continue the old "medicine show" racket - an entertaining "preacher" who replaces Christ with self as the focus. I spent a week at a retreat owned by a top TV preacher who "sold" blocks of concrete to the gullible on his TV show and paved the area around the cesspool at $5,000 a block. When he died, so did the "ministry" and the "church" went bankrupt. But how many folks who had falsely believed the man was preaching the Gospel woke up and realized it was just the modern "medicine show." Unfortunately, many who realized they had been scammed - and realized other scammers were doing the same thing - came to believe this was the real Church of Jesus Christ and that all pastors were just con artists as well. Betrayed by those who claimed to be of "the herd" but were allies of the predators, many "dogies" never experienced the real deal, and so became easy prey for the "Dark Prince" and his minions. The calf who runs away from the herd runs into the jaws of the coyote and lion. 

Unlike the modern Church, the "mad cow" disease that scatters herds and breaks their unity is rare. Even so, some calves wander off because they don't know better and become prey. That is why Big Mike sent Charlie and me to search for those "dogies." Remember, the definition of a "dogie" is "a motherless calf." Our task was to reunite those calves with their mamas, or find a cow that would adopt them. They need the herd, and the herd grows because they join it. That's what we did ... seek to bring them home again. 

If you are a disciple of Christ and not simply a member of a particular congregation or devotee of this or that pop preacher, God is calling you to saddle up and ride. And remember, you do not ride alone, The Lord rides with you, guiding you and encouraging you. It is not by your brilliant preaching or Biblical scholarship that the "dogie" returns home - but by the example. You connect, build trust, and lead the way. The stray will follow you at first if you have gained her or his trust, but eventually she or he will hear "Mama" (The Holy Spirit and Voice of God). Just get out of the way and celebrate the return of "the prodigal." 

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].