Call of the Wild

In the darkness of early morning coupled with my hilltop advantage, I hear the howl of coyote pups. This is a common experience living here. Early mornings and late evening the pups howl. We assume it is when their mothers must leave them for hunting. It is mournful all of the time and panicked some of the time. This particular morning they sounded more mournfully distressed. I was not alone in my interpretation, I believe, because a number of our village dogs joined in their sad song. Stunned by the uncharacteristic silence of our hounds, this moment of camaraderie between the babes of coyotes and village canines felt poignant.

It occurred to me our village dogs were responding to the call of the wild, genetic instinct raising above their domesticated history. Primitive blood of pack days gone by stirs up restlessness, which courses through their bodies, strange and familiar at the same time.

We Christians have a lot in common with them, don’t we? Born with a sinful nature, we need not be taught to sin, it comes as naturally as a coyote pup’s howl. Selfishness and self-preservation course through us with equal ease. It is the ‘dying to self’ we must work hard to maintain, fighting those natural urges. Our blood is easily stirred by the call of the wild and worldly.

When we do not heed our Master, we are as useless as an untrained dog. We would roam about seeking our own pleasures, fighting for that which nourishes us. The ‘pack mentality’ would become our source of strength, our sense of family. Our comfort found in others as wild and sinful as ourselves; each struggling to stay on top in the pecking order of the pack.

Each night in our home, we snuggle up with our well-fed hounds for family time. They are loved on and give love freely in return. Contentment is practically pliable, and certainly most visible in both man and beast. Our time together satisfies us all. Yet, when they do not observe the house rules, choosing to ignore the commands given, our time is not spent resting in sweet companionship, it requires discipline and structure be restored straight away. Any rebellious behavior addressed. Our love for them not changed by any wrong behavior, but our opportunity to enjoy their company wiped away for the moment at hand. Sometimes the offender sent away from our presence, bad behavior cannot be rewarded. They want nothing more than to sit by our side or in our laps, feeling a loving touch. This is the same touch a coyote pup never knows, except from another coyote. The call of the wild is in the wind.    

There’s a lesson in there…..