THE HOUND

Hello friends and neighbors...woof, woof...or in the words of The British Bulldog...grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...mate.

One of Elvis' big hits was a cover of a song by Big Mamma Thorton...Hound Dog. Steve Allen tried to calm down The Pelvis...by dressing him up in a tuxedo with no movement...and sing to a real hound dog.



Duane Chapman...Dog The Bounty Hunter... is always on the prowl...tracking down crack heads...meth users...bail jumpers. The team consisting of his sons Leland, Duane Lee, wife Beth, and Tim "Youngblood" Chapman, pursue the bad guys...and pray for them... and give them words of hope and encouragement...after they have intimidated them, thrown them to the ground, handcuffed them...and then turned them.





Sherlock Holmes and Watson...were pursuing the Hound of The Baskervilles...the legend that was manifesting itself...striking fear into the hearts as it roamed across the moors...howling it's howl of death. As our sleuths were pursing... the were becoming the pursued... because the HOUND is relentless.

Of course in the end...the hound was the fabricated tool to accomplish dasterdly deeds. What was feared would be shadows and trickery.


In 1980...the Christian Rock group DANIEL AMOS...released a cutting edge album called HORRENDOUS DISK. They had deviated from their country rock...and created an album with a zing. On this album was a song called THE HOUND OF HEAVEN. It went a little something...like this:

He got lost...among the stars
Hollywood flash...cash..mansions and cars
Deep sea diver...lear jet flyer...will this thing go to the moon?
Give me elbow room...and for heaven's sake TAKE THIS ACHING AWAY

You can't run...you can't hide from the HOUND OF HEAVEN
You're free to choose...can you refuse
THE SEEKER OF SOULS

The Motown group THE TEMPTATIONS...had already warned us in their song...BALL OF CONFUSION... that You can run...run...run...but you sure can't hide.

Daniel Amos' inspiration for their song about the pursing HOUND...came from a poem by FRANCIS THOMPSON...called THE HOUND OF HEAVEN. Mr. Thompson was a former opium addict who understood what it was to be hounded...by (1) addiction (2) the one who could free you from addictions.

The first few lines states:

I fled Him...down the nights and donw the days...I fled Him...down the arches of the years...I fled Him...down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him...and under running laughter....

The HOUND OF HEAVEN is a metaphor for the pursuit of God...the tracking of Jesus...the HOUNDING of the Holy Spirit...who never forces us to succumb against our volition (free will)...but is ever in pursuit. He never gives up. Jesus came in pursuit all the way from His heavanly glory...down to earth in the form of incarnated God...in the form of a baby. The true meaning of Christmas is the HOUND OF HEAVEN...in the manager along with sheep and cows.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh how I ran from the hound over the years. Hiding out beneath the callous, rough exterior of arrogance...hiding out in the guise of a jokster, making light of everything to hid the hurt...hiding out in the sarcastic, cutting edge of my tongue as I cut everyone down in my sight to take the emphasis off of my fears and inadequacies. I hid as I point out all of the inconsistencies of organized religion and the hype of the hypocrite. I ran as I became numb with the drug of choice, or snorted the latest chemical...or anesthisized myself with food, alchohol, good works...anything so I would not here the running footsteps behind me or the breath of the HOUND down my neck.

Where could I go to escape the love of this HOUND?

"Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, For thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. BUT in ALL these things...we OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER (more than conquerers) through HIM who LOVED US. For I am convinced that neithe (1) death (2) nor life (3) no angels (4) no principalities (5) no things present
(6) nor things to come (7) nor powers (8) nor height (9) nor depth
(10) nor any other created thing...shall separate us from the love of God...which is IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD" (Romans 8:35-39)

He was pursuing me...I found Him...but he was not the one who was lost. It really is true...you can't run...you can't hide...from the HOUND OF HEAVEN.

Mooey CHRISTmas
Rodney "Do you hear the Laugh of Love" Boyd