Have you heard the recent advertisement for Saatva mattresses for dogs?  The ad touts the fact that Gunther VI, the world’s richest dog, sleeps on a Saatva mattress.  The ad made me curious.  Not about the expensive dog mattresses.  Rather, it made me curious about Gunther VI.  Is there such a dog?  The answer is “yes” and Gunther VI is worth almost half a billion dollars.  His great, great-grandfather, Gunther III was the original inheritor of the late Countess Karlotta Liebenstein’s fortune.  You might also be interested to know that Gunther VI has company because there have been a few other cases of people who have left their fortunes to a pet.  Pardon the pun but that puts a different spin on the phrase, “it’s a dog’s life.”

Pew Research from July of this year shows that 51% of all pet owners see their pet as a part of their family.  Many of those go on so say that they are as much a part of their family as any human member.  They are not only companions and guardians, but they are also cherished family members.  It is amazing what we will make space for in our lives – travel, hobbies, family, exercise, learning, quarantines, and even pets in whom we might entrust our remaining estate!  However, does this really mean that we have or are experiencing a full life?

The title of Ted Lasso’s season 3, episode 7 is “The Strings That Bind Us.”  There are several story lines converging in this episode, all of them have to do with things or people in the character’s lives and whether they contribute to fullness.  Congruent is the fact that the Richmond team has been struggling and Ted decides that it is time to shake things up.  He has determined the team needs to adopt the four fundamentals of “total football.”  When asked what they are, Ted lists conditioning, versatility, and awareness.  Trent notices the fact that Ted only identified three things and says, “There is no number four?”  Ted pauses for a moment and then says, “Well like the man says, ‘sometimes you gotta leave space to let God walk in the room.’”

We are adept at packing things or stuff into our lives.  We let them consume time and energy; maybe too much of our time and energy.  And in the mix of all of that, we may even squeeze in God.  We view relationship with God has part of a full life.  I wonder if we’ve ever paused long enough to give space for God to walk in the room our lives and from that encounter, realize that God is the source of a full life, not part of a full life.  When we truly experience God in this way, we might find it wiser to orient the rest of our busy lives around the full presence of God.

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above as you move to reflect on the questions below.  Identify what it means for you to live a full life.  Lastly, I pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.