What is Your Duty?

So my dog is whining because he has to go out and do his duty. Do his duty. That strikes me funny, a dog having a duty. What is a duty? My dictionary says: an obligation that must be performed for moral or legal reasons. The dog knows that if he poops on the floor, the law tells him he is going to suffer repercussion so it is his duty to go outside and take care of that and it is my duty to take him out so that he can. Be right back . . . .

For a dog, taking care of his duty is quite simple. Of course there is the running and rolling around on the grass, playing in his water dish until it's empty and then carrying it around proudly in his mouth after he takes care of his duty. But he knows what he is out there for and what the duty is he is supposed to do. He gets it done before I call him back inside.

I noticed on the calendar that tomorrow is Yom Kippur. A duty that some Jewish people are very meticulous about. I looked it up because I didn't know what it was or what it meant. In the Bible it is referred to as The Day of Atonement. It is the holiest of Jewish Holidays. It is a day of intensive prayer, fasting, and sacrifice of frivolous activities.

I am not Jewish and I don't believe I know anyone who is. But I do remember one time when I was a senior in high school, two of my friends came up with this great idea that the three of us would spend our summer in Boston, Massachusetts working as nannies for these Jewish families with young children. Through our guidance office we were put in contact with three different families in the Boston area. During the week of April vacation, we stayed with the families that we had been coordinated with as a test to see if we would be a good fit with their children. I was three days into my stay when I came to the conclusion that I was not a good fit for changing diapers and I was so confused about keeping the dairy foods away from the meat produce. There were two separate cupboards for different sets of dinnerware. The rule was meat and dairy products do not go together at all. The dishes couldn't be put in the sink at the same time, the foodstuffs had to be kept on different shelves in the refrigerator. Needless to say, I hopped on a greyhound back to Bangor, Maine as fast as I could. Looking back on that experience now, I wish I had taken the summer job. It would have been an educational chapter in my life.

I am not Jewish, but I find what The Day of Atonement means for the Jewish people as far as respect for God and what He has given us (His Son) moving and stimulating. Yom Kippur expands my feeling of duty I have for God. "Sacrifice of frivolous activities . . . no eating, no drinking, no marital relations, no washing, etc." It might be good for people to experience sacrifice. What are today's people giving up? Nothing. We should give things up.

Sometimes things happen to me that I find very weird. As I have said, I am not Jewish. Earlier this week, I wrote a letter to an old friend (whom I had a falling out with over eight years ago and we have not spoken since then). Sometimes God puts things in our hearts and we should always do what He says whether we like the idea or not. I had no idea what Yom Kippur was or what it meant, but as I continued to read I came across this: It is customary to seek out the forgiveness of anyone whom you may have sinned against before Yom Kippur begins. Strange that I wrote that letter with no knowledge of Teshuva and like I said, I am not Jewish. He works in our hearts sometimes and we don't even know that He is.

We all have a duty. If you don't know what it is, sometimes you just have to listen to your heart to do the duty He wants you to do. Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34