As we set up the internet link, and settled ourselves into the living room, I called Tango over. I looked him in the eye and said, "Tango. This is a big day. We're going to have church now, and ordinarily you wouldn't be able to go to church with us, but today, because of our situation, you get to come to church with us - right here. In our living room." He stared at me. I stared back at him, as if to say, this would be the time for you to settle down. It would be best if you would fall asleep now. My mother watched the whole conversation and said to me, "You sound like a nutcase."
Palm Sunday mass was to be celebrated with no palms. Palm Sunday tends to be one of my favorite masses because I adore watching all the children playing with the palms, and watching their exasperated parents take the palms away from them.
Father Gary presided. The Liturgy of the Word began, notably one of the longest of the year, and Tango started to pace.
Valiantly, Tom tried to placate the little dog. But, the little dog was not to be placated.
First, Tango tipped over his toy box.
Next, he dragged all of his toys all over the living room floor.
Meanwhile, we continued to listen and watch - one eye on the screen, one eye on the dog.
Then, he started gnawing on the furniture.
Then, Tom got on the ground to play with him. He loves attention. That should do it. But...no.
Tango capitalized on all the attention and started biting anything and everything within sight. Shoes, hands, pillows, carpet, blankets. Don't worry - no toys, toys specially designed for a dog to bite and chew on, were utilized in this wild display of jawline power.
Then, Tango launched into biting his toy box. The tearing and ripping becoming the main event, as church played on in the background. He shredded his toy box into a million tiny little cardboard pieces, then scattered them like confetti all around the living room.
Father Gary's homily was spot on - from what I could gather. His point was that we should not make light of the times we are in. These times are serious, there's no doubt about it. But, he encouraged us to cope through finding joyful moments and laughter throughout our days; not to diminish what we're going through, but to sustain us through it.
And, lo and behold, here we were trying to take in the serious, reflective, meditative tone that is involved in a Catholic mass, with our dog terrorizing the living room. I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed to me that this was akin to the new parents taking a toddler to church. The parents trying to contain the little one's energy and the little one having a very different agenda, indeed.
In our living-room church today, we sang. We prayed. We worshiped together. And, we watched our dog destroy everything he possibly could within a one hour time frame with three adults looking on. Yes, the joy and humor were alive and well in our residence tonight. And, like any good Catholic parent, we will not be deterred by one mass of misbehavior. We will be sure to take Tango to church again next week - this time, we'll bring extra treats.
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