292 / Lessons From A Labrador

I am acquainted with a dog named Kona. Being a Labrador Retriever, Kona likes to "retrieve." She is also, let me say, exceedingly good at retrieving.

Here's the problem. While Kona likes to "retrieve," she also likes to hang on to whatever it is she has caught. She will bring it back to me, evidencing great satisfaction at her retrieval skills, but then she won't let go, so I can fling off the ball, or Frisbee, or other item anew. This cuts short our retrieval activities, and I believe that the net impact on Kona's satisfaction with life is actually diminished by her desire to "keep" what she has acquired.

There's a lesson there, I think, and you might check out Matthew 16:24-28. Those verses provide a different way of talking about the same lesson I learned from a Labrador.