Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 15
Toby didn't really like anyone but me. He wasn't unfriendly, and he wasn't mean. My uncle always referred to Toby as a tranquil beast. Toby just didn't care what anyone did as long as I was there, and he wanted to keep me safe. That was his number one priority. He never displayed any aggression toward anyone who didn't deserve it. Except for one group of people. He didn't like 99.9 percent of preachers.
The first time that I noticed this was when the minister from our family's church came out for one of his regular visits. The minute he came into the house, Toby never took his eyes off of him. Toby actually growled at him, and Toby never did that when people came over even if he didn't like them. Something was up.
I didn't think too much about all of this until the pastor was over at the house a few weeks later. Toby growled at him again. All of the hair on his back was standing up, and he was getting angry. I went with Toby outside so the old boy could cool off.
Later, I figured out why Toby didn't like the man. This man would in the next few weeks lie about me and get me fired from a job so that his wife could get the job. Toby had this character figured out way ahead of time.
My family stopped going to that church after many years, and began attending another of the very legalistic churches that my parents seemed drawn to. This new minister came over, and Toby was once again extremely agitated. What really set Toby off was when the new minister asked me if I could remember the exact time in my life that I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I do not know why, but Toby started barking and barking and barking at this man after he said that. I had to take him out in the kitchen.
It wasn't too long before I realized that Toby had this man figured out too. In a sermon, this minister said that he had a dog once that he didn't like so he shot and killed it. Toby had the dog hater spotted.
Finally, Toby met the pastor that he disliked most of all. He disliked this man so much and became so mad that he almost had a stroke. This happened when I was gone, so this is what my parents told me. As I mentioned before, I was born with an inherited immune system problem. Since my health was bad, I was still living at home. This pastor had the nerve to tell my folks that they should kick me out of the house because I shouldn't be living there anymore. He had no idea about my health, and my Dad proceeded to inform him about it, and that where I lived was none of his business. My Mom said that when the pastor said this that Toby got so angry that my Dad told the pastor and the elder that was with him to leave. This whole incident just made my Dad fed up. He left that denomination my family had been in since I was born and he never went back again.
This reminds me of what happened with my Grandpa and my uncle. My uncle was a Methodist minister. My Grandpa had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. My Grandpa and Grandma went to the same kind of church that my parents did. Their minister was visiting my Grandpa in the hospital when my uncle the minister came for a visit. My Grandparents pastor laid into my uncle when he found out that my uncle was a Methodist pastor. He said that Methodists where all liberals and were going to hell for preaching a social gospel. This made my Grandpa very upset. He told the pastor to leave his hospital room and never come back. My Grandparents had been members of that church for years, and after that they never went back.
About that time, I'd had enough of organized religion. The folks started going to a little church up the road from our house. I just stayed at home with Toby on Sundays and the two of us just had fun together.
About one year later, my Dad had to have surgery on his foot and was laid up for about one month. During that time, the pastor of the little church came to the house twice a week to visit my Dad and try to help him any way that he could.
When this pastor first came over to the house, I thought that Toby wouldn't like him since all of the other pastors he couldn't stand. But Toby liked this man. Since this pastor was so nice, I decided to go back to church, and I really enjoyed it. I began to learn about the real Jesus and about how much He loves me.
I knew that Toby didn't really have anything against religion. All this time, I was studying in Bible College and he certainly didn't hate me. He picked up on the fact that either they didn't like me or that they didn't like dogs. Its terrible when people who are Christians don't like animals. How can you love the creator and despise His creation?
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