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.