Cover photo courtesy of the author Mary Ellen Ashcroft’s tiny tome offersan insightful and inspirational look at the relationship between humans and God—and dogs.
For eons, religious leaders have been using metaphors to try to describe God. In Dogspell – The Gospel
According to Dog,
priest and author Mary Ellen Ashcroft adds a unique twist to this theme. God as “king,” quips Ashcroft, means little to her as she meets so little royalty. She does, however, have intimate knowledge of the love of a number of faithful dogs, including the inspiration for Dogspell,
her faithful black lab companion, Cluny. Cluny—Dog— she explains in this enlightening tome, gives a glimpse of what it is to know God.
Ashcroft’s imaginative pondering about the faithfulness of dogs began as a child when she read and reread dog stories—Old Yeller,
Sounder, Savage
Sam, Where the Red
Fern Grows, Lassie Come Home, The Incredible
Journey.
However, it was not until she joined the theological ranks that she began to think of Dog as a metaphor. Christianity, writes Ashcroft, is the ultimate dog story. She writes of the incredible journey starting with God whelped as a pup in Bethlehem; walking with people in Galilee; and finally dying in his efforts. “To what lengths will God go to be with the beloved?” asks Ashcroft.
Ashcroft notes that Dog chooses you. Like all of us, Ashcroft has her list of reasons why she is not “good enough” for her dog—she has made frivolous or sarcastic remarks, she didn’t address the dog with the proper reverence, and so on. She points out that Cluny doesn’t admonish her. There is no message declaring, “You know you cannot approach me until you set these matters straight.”
No, writes Ashcroft, there is no such censure, no such distance. No, when she puts on her tennis shoes or mentions going for a w-a-l-k, Cluny is there, “wagging in her willingness.”
The Gospel According to Dog
is tiny, only 87 pages long. However, Ashcroft fills those pages with an enormous message of hope about our eventual meeting with God.
Dogspell – The Gospel According to Dog
is published by Seabury Books and is available at www. seaburybooks.org.
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