Togo¡¯s Torn Ear

 

Though overshadowed by Balto¡¯s fame, Togo and his musher Seppala who ran the longest course in 1925 for the serum run had been known as a famous sled race team. This team was the most experienced and well recognized. They were so capable and acknowledged a combo by anyone that the original plan was for them to take up the half of the whole 1,000 Km course. Such a career and fame was not made overnight, but through winning over many races for twelve years.

 

Even though he was born to a famous sled-dog father and from great bloodline, why did Togo excel over his numerous brothers? He was not particularly big in size or healthy since he had surgery because of his breathing problem. Togo was not suitable to be a sled dog and was insignificant, but how could he become the best Siberian purebred from Alaska in history?

 

The easiest way to recognize Togo is to see his right ear. He has a torn ear that was almost ripped off by other dogs. The record at the time says that he almost died. But this experience of near death made him a hero in history.

 

Whether it was because of a Napoleon complex resulting from his small size, or because he wanted to prove ¡°the smaller the chili pepper is, the hotter it is,¡± Togo was totally reckless. He kept picking fights, and went around as he wished. Not only that, because of his father¡¯s genius features and mother¡¯s Siberian blood, he became a born troublemaker who even his own musher couldn¡¯t control.

 

Then one day, a dog-sled team came to the village. These dogs were bigger than Togo and Malamute dogs that constituted most sled dogs at the time. These dogs were big fighters, labor dogs that couldn¡¯t compare to Togo. It records that instead of one on one fighting, several dogs crushed the body of Togo that was messing with them and in the process, his ear was ripped off. Looking back at the incident, the musher Seppala recalls that Togo¡¯s bad habit completely disappeared. After that, he didn¡¯t pick a fight with other dogs or become frivolous when passing other sled teams, but became a loyal dog that carried out his duty faithfully. The incident shocked Togo in such a way that he never became careless without his musher¡¯s command.

 

As we live hard based on natural characteristics and academics resulting from hard study we come to get married, increase our property and our kids grow up in a moment. But nobody goes through this process without any hardship. Though there may be differences of degree, everyone experiences some kind of difficulty once or twice in their life. It may happen during school days, or the marriage may be in crisis. Or raising children may be so difficult that you feel like you don¡¯t know where to start. But if you look back after having gone through all those hardships, you can see that the particularly difficult times were the very catalyst to correct your life and lead it in the right direction. The problem is that a person who thinks of himself as something else falls into the delusion that he overcame the trials only with his abilities.

 

Though we combine our power, science, and everything in this world, we still cannot make even a drop of blood. It is the limit of our power that though we know how a grain of rice sprouts, grows and bears crops and even after thousands of years, it would still sprout if it is under suitable conditions and humidity, we cannot make a grain of rice. Northern California where I live has the perfect climate, scenery, and natural environment to the degree that it can be called ¡®paradise.¡¯ But even in Paradise, earthquakes take place and after experiencing some a few times every year, people just don¡¯t care. The power of an earthquake is so great that it is not compared to all the atomic bombs combined that are made using the most advanced technology of human kind. In my opinion, though it may be a small earthquake, we live as if we are something else because we are not really aware of the enormous power of nature, namely the power of the Creator.

With the trials that I cannot bear, though it is one millionth of disasters our Maker can send, our lives face a big change. There is no way to describe our stupidity that is corrected only after going through such incidents. Then, it will be a very wise attitude to look for the things I can change if I am in an unbearable situation as we think about Togo¡¯s near death incident.  

 

Togo¡¯s torn ear can function as a memento that reminds us of our weaknesses when we try to live as we wish forgetting the lessons from the past. I¡¯m not quite 50 yet, but I went through my share of hard times. It may look like a comfortable life, but I had my own share of difficulties and nowadays my business is slack. My clients, exterminator companies that have everything to do with nation-wide real estate problems, shut down their businesses every day. And accordingly, cash circulation and drawing customers has become harder than imagined. Facing this situation, I remind myself of quotes from the Good Book. It comforts me that the God of the universe is behind me, who wouldn¡¯t give me the trials that I cannot bear, and would make me more useful through all those trials so that He would receive glory eventually through me.

 

Thinking of Togo¡¯s ripped ear, I imagine the scene in which I would meet the Lord looking back at the memories of the difficult days and give Him thanks for my changed life through those trials.