love

I am reading the shack. It is a new book about basically about God, love, the trinity, pain. Among other things.
It is quite good. This morning I got up early with gob and fell asleep reading on the couch.
Then about now, Stryker came out of the bedroom and jumped up on the couch to wake me up.
He then walked on my stomach and looked at me with a head tilt.
I don't know if it was the shack's influence, but I saw unconditional love in Stryker. Like the kind of love, humans can barely muster. He just sat there waiting for me to pet him. As I moved my hand toward him he kinda bent down a little and as I stroked his neck, he lifted his head in delight. And as I moved my hand, he placed his paw on top of my hand to keep it near him. He has a way of communicating to me what he needs. And somehow, has an uncanny way of knowing when I need attention or when especially, I need space. The times I need attention he graviates toward my face or will give me kisses on my hands. And when I need space he curls up at my feet almost instinctively. It is nice to know that he is there. He doesn't need anything from me, but just wants to be there. Other times, like now, when I am working at my computer, he is in the living room, but just a shout away. If I were to yell "stryker", I'd hear his little feet land on the ground and trot into the office.
It is amazing.
And all this coming from a converted dog person.
Really, I don't like dogs. If you want to tell me about your dog, I'll nod along-not really caring. I only like my dogs. And sometimes, lately, I can barely stand Gob. He is still so little. He doesn't know our routine the way Stryker does. And he is a taker and not a giver.

So this morning, Stryker's routine struck a cord with me in that I felt like he was displaying a characteristic of God that humans rarely do. Rarely do we communicate unconditional love without words or even actions, but just through presence.