https://seedbed.com/on-designer-dogs-and-rescue-pets-2/
JD Walt’s reflection today in our morning Wake Up Call st seedbed.com on rescue pets led me to remembering the many rescue pets of our family over nearly seven decades of my life ….. and especially those that were part of our children’s lives with us…. so many joys and blessings to us all.
A youth asked our pastor if there would be pets in heaven. He, whose family had a couple of beloved companion animals themselves, asked the youth if his pets gave him joy and love. The youth eagerly said, “Yes!”. Our pastor said that because heaven is described as a place of joy and contentment, he believes there will be companion animals we can enjoy, not perhaps our own specific pets, but certainly animals in whom we animal enthusiasts may delight.
For some of us, especially when our hearts find scant safety and significance among other relationships, find it in the energy, purposefulness, comfort, and attention of caring for and being cared for by our animals. They are tangible reminders that we are not alone, that the God of creation provides for our needs in many ways. Almost everywhere I go these days I see service dogs in red vests announcing their purpose.
Yesterday I saw a somewhat disheveled individual walking his dog, some kind of bulldog in a harness and leash walking in a crosswalk. When they got to the other side of the road the man petted the dog, then dropped a skateboard that he stepped on and the bulldog began pulling him down the sidewalk in what appeared to be a happy and effortless way. It made me smile as I watched them in my rear view mirror and I hoped no one would consider their symbiotic and serendipitous relationship animal abuse.
During a New Room livestream in September 2020, I believe someone made a reference to seeing the goodness of God in the land of the living, from Psalm 27:13, “I would have despaired if I had not believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living.” It may have been Lo Alaman in a dramatic declaration or his interview with Miriam Swanson or David Thomas’ call to prayer….Suddenly, I lwas gripped with the desperate longing of which the Psalmist spoke…. to see the goodness of God in the land of the living….I was sitting at a table on the front row of our community room. I went face down on the floor and began repeating that prayer…” to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living…” My husband had died just weeks before….. My grief was heavy, not just for myself and my family and friends.. I leaned into, lamented, and longed to see the goodness of God in the land of the living for all who love the Lord, for orphan hearts seeking a home, and for the wounded and hurting in spirit, soul, and body.
The goodness of God, manifested in many beautiful, creative, redemptive, living, and and life-giving ways. I heard recently from a podcast by a favorite Christian neuropsychiatrist, Dr Curt Thompson, this Word:
“The Hebrew word for good is also translated as beauty. God did not just create and call it good. He created and called it beautiful.” God’s goodness and beauty are present to us, even in the scruffy rescues we embrace…….. and the rescues we ourselves are.
Perfect starts to the day… Wake Up Call from seedbed.com and CeCe Winans’ beautiful song!