The “dog days” of summer are upon us. Some of us are familiar with that phrase; others are not. After all, from where did that phrase come? Actually, the origin of the phrase “dog days” goes back to ancient times.

Ancient people saw stars more clearly than we do today, since their night sky was not obscured by smog and artificial lights. They connected these stars with imaginary lines to make what we call constellations. Better known among these are Orion, the Big Dipper, and Canis Major (the big dog) which is where we get the term “dog days”. An author from “Wilstar” put it this way:

“Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period of time dog days after the dog star. Our current month of August is the only full month during “dog days.”

The letters of dog and God are easily interchangeable, even without dyslexia. A fun and meaningful example of this is done by Wendy Francisco. The video can be found here (and there may be an ad):

I highly encourage all of you to access this little two-minute video. It is well worth the effort.

Here’s another task that I believe is well worth the effort. It involves turning the “dog days” of August into the “God-days” of August. What would our community and our county look like if we did that? What if we all saw others through the eyes of Jesus? What if everyone we touched were touched with the hands of Jesus? How would our lives and the lives of others be touched if the heart of Jesus beat within us?

This is awesome to contemplate! You don’t have to be dyslexic to turn “dog days” into “God-days”. You only have to be willing.

Happy “God-days” to all of you!