We had a dog in my family. He used to wag his tail – a lot! This was usually whenever I walked through the front door of our house. He was happy to see me. I was happy to see him, too. Alas, I had no tail to wag. Evolution took care of that. Although my dog would frequently wag his tail, I never saw the tail wagging the dog…but, times change. Now, it would seem that tails regularly wag dogs. Wag the dog is a somewhat unusual phrase in English and it appears that it may be particular to American English. Although a version of the phrase dates back to a play only towards the end of the nineteenth century according to Merriam-Webster, in its current usage the phrase is linked to a movie by that same name. The film, Wag the Dog, was released in 1997. The movie, which I’ve never seen, has to do with a fictional war started in order to distract from an executive office scandal occurring less than two weeks before an election. The phrase, wag the dog, has to do with stories told and narratives created. When observing current events in the age of the World Wide Web and a 24/7 news cycle, perhaps the question to always ask is “is it news or is it narrative?” Our world of today seems to be less news and ever more narrative. Contrasting news headlines today seem to give evidence of this. The widget that is ever so popular today such that every household should have one, in a mere twenty-four hours is found to cause physical and mental illness – maybe even death itself and all those widget-teers promoting and profiting from this late latest “thing” should be arrested, jailed, and maybe even executed. Join me in protest at the town square where I was selling widgets yesterday. Hmmm. Another example would be this. Of course, you’ve heard of moon cheese, right? Recently, a news agency reported that an anonymous source leaked an unsigned document from one of our country’s intelligence agencies. It stated unequivocally that, astoundingly, the moon is, in fact, made out of cheese. The potential harvesting of moon cheese stands to create a whole new industry worth billions. Countless new jobs would be created. Furthermore, the document indicates that because of ideal temperatures and the lunar exosphere, the galactic Gouda would be of a far greater quality than that which could ever be produced on earth. Although the health benefits of cheese harvested from the moon have yet to be fully studied, the document suggested that consuming a small amount of moon cheese on a regular basis may even extend human life. News of the content of the leaked report has dairy farmers and producers of earthly cheeses incensed. They are demanding inquiries and answers. Stocks in the cheese industry have already been hit hard as Wall Street is already taking a rocket to the moon. Two days later there was a minor correction in a footnote to the story. The original story omitted the word, if, from the document…as in if the moon were made out of cheese. But, it was too little too late. The tail was already wagging the dog. Is it any wonder why the Son of Man entered into our history when He did? One can only imagine the wagging of the dog that would take place today in connection with a Christ Crucified. Sometimes it still does. Christians as disciples are learners. That is what disciple means. A student that is learning is curious and questions. He or she seeks the Truth in a world filled with all sorts of narratives and lots of news every day. That is what the original Disciples did and this is what you and I are called to do – especially in our world today of constantly changing narratives, twenty-four-hour news cycles, and a wild World Wide Web. For now, might I suggest that you pass on the galactic Gouda; enjoy some nice earthly brie instead – and especially, when it comes to our Faith, don’t let the tail wag you!
Peace!
Fr. Wilson