shouhnuh yehv geerkkohd tzahngoutiounuh

There was and there wasn’t a man who loved his pet dog. He would spend all his spare time with his dog. Taking the dog for a walk, picking up its droppings, going to the dog salon for baths and special treatment, spending a lot of money on special diet foods, playing with the dog, carrying it in his arms and kissing it. He would let the dog eat off his own plate and would sleep with the dog in his bed. He was obsessed with the dog. A priest noticed the man’s attachment to the dog. He tried to convince the dog lover that his affection was misplaced. After all, the dog was just an animal whose loyalty and seeming affection was only due to the man regularly feeding it. If the man stop feeding the dog, he would eventually leave and find a new master. The man stopped fondling the dog and ignored it. At first, the dog could not understand the man’s change of attitude. It tried to approach the man and receive his affectionate treatment, but he pushed it away and even struck it with a whip to make his point.

The man kept the dog in his back yard without any shelter and purposely left the fence door open. He stopped feeding it. Eventually the dog left and never came back.

The dog represents our lust for sense enjoyment that requires exploiting someone or something for our personal benefit. When we stop pandering to lusty desires and ignore them, then eventually with determination such desires for material pleasures subside. Material lust can then be transformed or redirected to spiritual love for God and His creation. At that point, we experience a much greater spiritual pleasure devoid of the attempt to dominate and exploit material things or relationships for personal gain. One becomes a giver rather than a taker because of the certainty of God’s guidance and protection.