May 2009
As I was walking by the river on my way home from the Day Centre a few weeks ago I passed someone exercising a young Rottweiler. I reminded myself that it's only the males that are supposed to be aggressive (without actually looking at it closely enough to establish its gender) and carried on.
A few moments later I felt something bump against my hand. It was the Rottweiler. It bounded in front of me and stood looking at me from a foot or so away.
I decided it just wanted to be friendly and leant forward and patted it, whereupon it became even more friendly and tried to jump up and lick my face. The owner apologised profusely and called it back.
As I walked on I couldn't help thinking about the possible outcome had I been six years old or afraid of dogs.
As it happens I like dogs and can’t even remember being six years old. There must still have been something about the way the Rottweiler acted that told me it was being friendly rather than aggressive. There must have been some very effective non-verbal communication going on.
That highlighted for me the importance of actions rather than words. It's no use telling people about God's love for them if our actions don’t demonstrate that love. As with that dog, actions can say a lot when words are impossible.
I try to follow the advice from St Francis of Assisi: "Preach on all possible occasions. Use words if you must."