The Leader of the Pack

The full text as prepared for the Sunday, April 7, 2013 message:

I don’t think everyone is aware so I’ll tell you now that Jane’s and my little family of three is now four. Three weeks ago yesterday we adopted a young dog from the animal shelter in New Castle. Her name is Libby and here are some pictures of her.

Currently, Libby is barking more than we’d like, not to mention she does not yet realize her bathroom is outside! She does what she wants, when she wants to, more often that doing what we want her to do.

Libby is "The Leader of the Pack!"

We knew when we adopted her that she would need some “behavior rehabilitation.” :o) so I turned to Cesar Millan, “The Dog Whisperer.”

 In his book, Be The Pack Leader, he shares rehabilitation (he doesn’t like the concept of training) ideas that I quickly recognized have application to our spiritual journey.

The first thing that caught my eyes was this, “In a dog’s world you are either a leader or a follower.” I would say that when it comes to our personal lives we are either a follower or a follower. No, I didn’t say that wrong, we are either a follower or a follower.  I’ll explain than a little later.

Millan also writes, “In America especially, the kind of lifestyle people lead here is a very intellectual one. We communicate with one another almost exclusively through language. We send worded message on the internet and on cell phones. We read, we watch television, we have lots of education and more information at our fingertips than ever before which allows some of us to live almost 100% in our minds. We agonize about the past and fantasize about the future. All too often we become so dependent upon our intellectual sides that we forget there is much, much more to this amazing world we live in.”

I think it’s important to recognize that the intellect is not wise.  Wisdom is not the function of the intellect. Wisdom is not contained in the intellect. The function of the intellect is to carry out instructions.

Healthy intellect follows the letter of the law that it’s been given. Misguided intellect argues back and forth, endeavoring to prove it is the highest authority… something more than the “carry-outer” of instructions. Misguided intellect wants to ascend to the seat of authority, usurp God, and be the pack leader… which it is not.  We must demand of our intellect – during the inner argument for authority – to surrender to wisdom.  Wisdom in the commanding officer and intellect is the soldier that carries out the orders (even when intellect thinks the commanding officer is an idjit). :o)

We need to be careful about where those orders come from.

I contend there are only two voices from which our counsel comes: The voice for Love and the voice for not Love.

The voice for Love we might also call God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit “speaking” to us.

The voice for not Love is the voice that advocates everything but Love. We could call this voice ego, or devil, or Satan.

There is a moment when we can call ourselves “Pack Leader,” but that is temporary.

The voice for Love will always only tell us one thing, that we are love.

The voice for not love will always tell us we are limited, that we are not good enough or smart enough, of strong enough, or capable.  It’ll also council us to accept fear, guilt, shame, hate, anger, jealousy, hopelessness, etc.

The Pack Leader sets the tone for the pack. The Pack Leader determines what is acceptable and what isn’t. This is where you get to be the pack leader; you establish that the pack of lies the ego is always foisting on us are not true.

When those thoughts and feelings arise, be the pack leader and deny their truth. Do not let them take control of your thoughts. The Pack Leader requires the pack to stay behind him and follow him.  Tell those lies, “Get thee behind me…” (MT 16:23)

Once you’ve established your dominion over negativity you surrender to the voice for Love, God, your Pack Leader.

I said we were either a follower or a follower. We either follow the council of the ego or the council of God.

Jesus was not a leader, he was the quintessential follower.

John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

“Not my will but your will be done” LK 22:42 Jesus was a follower.

(Show two pictures of Marley – one cute and one of his destruction)

Cesar Millan says that in the book “Marley and Me” the Grogan family achieved trust, love, and loyalty with Marley, but not respect. Marley was never trained to respect his humans, 

so Marley took the role as pack leader, doing what he pleased when he pleased, establishing command.

Respect is necessary to have a healthy “inner” relationship.

What about you and your inner life? Is your self-talk respectful, or is it limiting you and doing what it pleases with you? Are you willing to take the lead, be the leader, and communicate back to your self-talk of limitation and suspect self-worth that, you are a child of God and therefore you are unlimited and that your true nature is the pack leader (with respect to negative, limiting self-talk)?

Teachers must establish respect in the classroom in order to teach students effectively.

Military commanders must establish respect in their soldiers in order to lead effectively.

Parents must establish respect in the home in order to teach children effectively.  All these relationships must have a respect for the leader.

We feel safe, and calm, and stable when we have respect for our “pack leader.” Your pack Leader is God. Do you have respect for the Voice for Love within you?

“By giving a dog rules, boundaries, and limitations you don’t kill his spirit, you just give him the structure he needs in his life in order to find peace and allow his true dog-self to emerge.” (Cesar Millan)

By establishing boundaries for ourselves; denying the truth of negative self-talk and affirming what is true about us and others we can find peace and allow our true spiritual-self to emerge.

But we have a problem with boundaries; we tolerate for too much mind wandering that takes us outside of healthy boundaries.

One of the interesting things Millan says is that the Grogan’s addressed Marley as a name and a personality rather than addressing, “the animal in him.”

I think he is saying here that through their ignorance, they didn’t respect the nature of Marley.

Because they saw him as a name and a personality communication on that level doesn’t work.  I think we do that too, we don’t respect the nature in us – our Being – and thus our intra-personal communication is misdirected and inefficient.

“Remember this key concept when you are trying to interact with your dog; you must train your mind to relate to him in this order; First – animal; second – species; third - breed; fourth – name.” (Cesar Millan)

Then he said this wonderful thing, “First it is important to address the animal in your dog because that is what you have in common with him; you are both animals…” 

That idea right there is transformational if we can see it in a spiritual way. First we relate to what we have in common, our spirituality, then as humans, then, perhaps, regional/societal difference, gender, and lastly as personality.

This week, if you’re willing, I invite you to speak this phrase to yourself to connect at the level of your true nature – spirit - as you encounter other people: “___Name___, I am another one of you. Together, in Love, we are One.”

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