Saw a little boy being tortured in church today.
He might have been just over 2 years old; hadn't learned to whisper yet.
He'd brought his train, not sure if it was Thomas or Gordon. Mama was pregnant. Daddy was bored. Sitting with daddy was more fun. Mama kept telling him to shhhhh. He cowered when she talked in his ear. Maybe he was just ticklish. Maybe.
Why was he expected to sit quietly through a full Eucharist at the Anglican cathedral? His
Spiderman shoes suggested action! The immediate message in his ear, which was not getting through, was, "Sit still!".
Up. Down. Wiggle. Little voice loud. Shhh! Down. Finally after tormenting the little prayer book, using it as a hat, an airplane & a fan, he found the dog.
Yes, in the cathedral was, what I perceived to be, a very pious dog. It followed its human as he stood, as he sat, as he approached the altar. Black & white, medium sized Border Collie, seemingly well-known and part of the congregation. At the time I refer to, said dog was resting quietly under its human's pew which was directly in front of the pew of the tortured boy's family.
Spiderboy froze suddenly, having seen fur and then trying to process where he was and what nature of threat it might be. Then his brow relaxed and his eyes lit up.
"Dog!"
"Shhhh."
Undeterred he stuck out a tentative hand and patted the fur. By now, spiderboy was sitting on the kneeling bench between the pews. He now had a different view than he'd had as a little person on a pew. He drove his train along the tapestry of the seat. Oh, what's that?
Sticking his hand through the gap between his family's pew seat and it's backrest, he could punch a needlework pillow hanging on a hook. Things were looking up! Fun was to be made!
The young man sharing my pew must have remembered being a small boy. He smiled down at the pillow bouncing against his knees.
The little boy got a blessing later in the service as he knelt between mama & daddy at the altar rail. I'm not sure the dog did, but I didn't see him kneel. He did sit in the middle of the aisle and had a very satisfying scratch as his human went into a side chapel after the service. Piety can be itchy.
He might have been just over 2 years old; hadn't learned to whisper yet.
He'd brought his train, not sure if it was Thomas or Gordon. Mama was pregnant. Daddy was bored. Sitting with daddy was more fun. Mama kept telling him to shhhhh. He cowered when she talked in his ear. Maybe he was just ticklish. Maybe.
Why was he expected to sit quietly through a full Eucharist at the Anglican cathedral? His
Spiderman shoes suggested action! The immediate message in his ear, which was not getting through, was, "Sit still!".Up. Down. Wiggle. Little voice loud. Shhh! Down. Finally after tormenting the little prayer book, using it as a hat, an airplane & a fan, he found the dog.
Yes, in the cathedral was, what I perceived to be, a very pious dog. It followed its human as he stood, as he sat, as he approached the altar. Black & white, medium sized Border Collie, seemingly well-known and part of the congregation. At the time I refer to, said dog was resting quietly under its human's pew which was directly in front of the pew of the tortured boy's family.
Spiderboy froze suddenly, having seen fur and then trying to process where he was and what nature of threat it might be. Then his brow relaxed and his eyes lit up.
"Dog!"
"Shhhh."
Undeterred he stuck out a tentative hand and patted the fur. By now, spiderboy was sitting on the kneeling bench between the pews. He now had a different view than he'd had as a little person on a pew. He drove his train along the tapestry of the seat. Oh, what's that?
Sticking his hand through the gap between his family's pew seat and it's backrest, he could punch a needlework pillow hanging on a hook. Things were looking up! Fun was to be made!
The young man sharing my pew must have remembered being a small boy. He smiled down at the pillow bouncing against his knees.
The little boy got a blessing later in the service as he knelt between mama & daddy at the altar rail. I'm not sure the dog did, but I didn't see him kneel. He did sit in the middle of the aisle and had a very satisfying scratch as his human went into a side chapel after the service. Piety can be itchy.
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