Paddy Gets Clipped!

 

Paddy Gets Clipped!

By Pastor Jim Allen and Paddy the Golden Doodle

 

The morning sun streamed across the breakfast table, illuminating my plate of scrambled eggs and the rather large, curly-haired scholar sitting in the chair next to me. Paddy pushed a pair of reading glasses down his fluffy snout with a paw and sighed heavily. He closed his large, leather-bound Bible with a soft thud.

 

“Well, that’s it,” Paddy announced, his tail giving a single, decisive thump against the chair. “No more haircuts for me!”

 

I took a sip of my coffee, amused. “Why is that, Paddy?”

 

“I’m reading the story of Samson over here in Judges,” Paddy explained, tapping the cover of the Good Book. “The guy was a powerhouse. Unstoppable! Then, snip, snip, off goes the hair, and boom… he loses all his supernatural strength. I’m not taking that risk, Dad. These golden curls are the source of my power.”

 

I chuckled, reaching over to scratch him behind his overly-fuzzy ears. “Well, Buddy, that was Samson. You, on the other hand, haven’t been groomed for some time, and quite frankly, you look like a muppet. A cute muppet, but a muppet nonetheless.”

 

“A muppet with the potential to strike down a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey!” Paddy countered, quoting Judges 15:15 from the Bible. “Or at least a thousand squirrels with the squeaker of a rubber chicken.”

 

“Paddy,” I said, setting my mug down. “Samson was a Nazirite dedicated to God from the womb. Just like Judges 13:5 says: ‘…for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.’ His strength wasn’t just some magic trick in the hair itself; the uncut hair was a sign of his covenant with the Lord.”

 

I leaned back in my chair, a memory bringing a smile to my face. “In fact, Paddy, did you know my nickname used to be Sam?”

 

Paddy tilted his head, his floppy bangs completely obscuring his eyes. “Sam? I thought your name was Jim. Wait... Sam, like Samson?”

 

“Exactly,” I said. “When I was a baby, I think my mom really wanted a girl after my older brother, so she just let my hair grow long. My dad thought it was funny and started calling me Samson, which eventually morphed into Sam. Almost everyone called me Samson… everyone except my mom and my girlfriends, that is. The name stuck right up until I left for the Air Force. At that time the military barbers took care of my ‘supernatural strength.’”

 

Paddy’s eyes widened behind his curtain of fur. “So, you know the struggle, Dad! You’ve lived it! You know what happens when the clippers come out. Remember when Samson tore a young lion apart as he would have torn a young goat, and he had nothing in his hand? That’s in Judges 14:6. I could be packing that kind of muscle under this fleece. You wouldn’t want to deprive the Church of their fiercest guardian, would you?”

 

“The only thing you tear apart is the stuffed sheep Grandma bought you last Tuesday,” I reminded him gently. “And your idea of a fierce defense is barking at the mail carrier from the safety of the living room window.”

 

“I’m biding my time,” Paddy huffed. “Besides, you can’t trust anyone with scissors. Look what happened with Delilah in Judges 16. She nagged him daily with her words, urged him until his soul was troubled to death, and then she called for a man to shave off the seven locks of his head. It’s a cautionary tale, Dad. Groomers are just modern-day Delilahs!”

 

“Which brings me to my next point,” I said, trying to suppress a grin. “I’ve already made an appointment for you this afternoon at Amanda Kelly’s K9 grooming salon.”

Paddy gasped, his ears shooting up as much as the matted fur would allow. “Amanda Kelly?! She’s the Delilah of dog groomers! She’s going to rob me of my strength, put bows in my hair, and make me smell like lavender! The Philistines, or the neighbor’s cats… will have a field day!”

 

I laughed out loud. “Miss Amanda might be the Delilah in regard to grooming, but she doesn’t have the other qualities of Delilah, fortunately. Do you know she also has a Doodle? A Bernedoodle.”

 

Paddy’s ears twitched at the mention of a fellow Doodle.

 

“She is a wonderful groomer, and you need to be able to see out from under those bangs,” I reasoned. “Besides, even Samson’s hair began to grow back after he was shaved in prison, as Judges 16:22 points out. Your strength will return. And in the meantime, you’ll stop tripping over your own feet on the way to your food bowl.”

Paddy sighed, looking down at his paws, which were indeed starting to resemble oversized fuzzy slippers. “Fine. But if I lose the ability to open the pantry door with my nose, that’s on you.”

 

“I’ll take that chance,” I laughed, tossing him a piece of bacon. “Now finish your breakfast, Samson. You’ve got a date with the clippers and Delilah… I mean Amanda!”

 

 

Pastor Jim Allen is the shepherd of Trinity Evangelical Church. Pastor invites you to come and check us out each Sunday for worship at 10:10 AM. Starting on Sunday May 24^th through the last Sunday of September we will be having Church on the River each Sunday at Riverbend Park at 8am. Everyone is welcome, including your dogs, cats and even your in-laws! Delilah’s’ are always welcome!