When I first got my dog, a little over a year ago, I wanted to know more about him and his tendencies. Marlon is a Min Pin. I did not name him Marlon, I think animals should be named animal names not people names, but I digress. In my effort to learn about min pins I watched some videos on Youtube posted by owners of this much loved breed. What I learned is that Marlon looks and acts in a very similar way to most of the dogs on the videos. The Min Pin breed likes to bark at the door, bite your hand or blanket or whatever when playing, and run around when excited. I was stunned that the actions were so similar, that other owners were having a similar experience with their Min Pin as well.
That made me think about the human experience. There are times we are told that we are special and unique and I suppose we are in some ways. But the fact of the matter is we all have very similar thoughts, feelings and experiences, many of which we keep to ourselves. I think we are taught to keep things in, don't expose too much, perhaps because it could be used against you. But it is good to hear the struggles and victories of others. It is nice to know we have shared tendencies, that our heroes go through hard times, depressions and loneliness. Because thats what we all experience at some point. Its nice to read about the men in the Bible and their failures like David, Moses, and Peter. These were some of the greatest men in the History of our faith and yet they fell short of perfection. They disobeyed God, they denied God, there are men in the Bible who got mad at God, even questioned Him.
Knowing all this is like watching a Youtube video of other humans and realizing, hey, I'm human!