Sibling Rivalry

I have always thought it was very significant that a large part of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, deals with family relationships. A theme that appears over and over again is sibling rivalry. You see it with Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Rachael and Leah. What a sad trap those sisters were caught up in.

Maybe God wanted us to know that sibling rivalry is real and that parents should intervene or it can get out of hand and destroy a family. In fact, later in the Bible we see how it affected a nation in the case of King David and his children.

I was simply reminded of this because I took my dog Dixie Belle to the vet. She will be at the animal hospital for 2 nights. What does this have to do with sibling rivalry? Bear with me.

I didn't have the joy of having two children so I never had to worry about sibling rivalry as such. I have had two dogs, though. I inherited Dixie Belle when the neighbors moved and left her behind. She was accustomed to being tied to a tree. Her only entertainment was to eat through her collars. When she succeeded, she would run for days up and down the street until her owners would notice she was untied. She was used to interaction with other dogs.

Dixie liked the freedom of our backyard, but missed running with dogs and was very moody. We (my son and I) thought another pet might help. It did, too. They loved to play in the back yard.

The problems came when we became involved.

Dixie Belle and Taz, a Carolina Dog, would do almost anything to get all the attention from one of us. It was funny sometimes, bothersome other times. An adult lab/boxer mix on your lap is very uncomfortable--and if Taz could get on my lap, Dixie thought she belonged there, too.

Anyway, I was convinced that Taz, would love having two days of our undivided attention while Dixie Belle was at the animal hospital--but I was wrong. Taz saw me put the collar around Dixie Belle and lead her to the car. She was upset because she wanted to go with us. --But she was also upset when I got home and there was no Dixie Belle with me. She was really confused when it was bed time and there was no Dixie Belle. Right now she will have next to nothing to do with me. She may want all the attention when both dogs are at home, but she really does love her companion.

It is fortunate that love can overcome sibling rivalry.

We saw that in the Biblical case of Joseph and his brothers, too.