"Comfort, o comfort my people" says God--Advent 8

 

  Comfort has come to me so often in the form of a pet.  This photo is of our dog Roger (He can't stand having his picture taken!) When Roger arrived in our home almost 10 years ago he was one of 5 pets, he is now our lone survivor.  

   Over the years my pets have supported me through grief, transition, disappointment and joy.

   My cat Mittens was wept on profusely when I was ten and grieving the very unexpected death of our grandfather. This cat was a family favorite, he really was the boss. One night when I was babysitting and a strange car pulled in the driveway he jumped on the banister and growled like a dog.

   Tiger was not the most beautiful cat, she, like me as a teen, was particular about who she loved, when she would love and how much.  She was the perfectly imperfect cat for a wayward girl like me.

   Jezebel was my first "baby” I moved away from home and got married and this beautiful cat was all I needed to feel safe in a new state, meeting new people and working new jobs.  Nine years after we got her our youngest son was born and was allergic to her, our neighbors loved her and took her in.  I can still tear up remembering looking at her from our driveway as she sat vigil in a window looking back.  She didn't cry, she just looked there really wasn't anything more to do than this and she knew it. This family loved her well into her old age.

    That was my life with cats--always a cat girl really until Jake!  Jake was a mutt found in a parking lot.  This good boy took care of us and loved us giving our family comfort his whole life.  Jake would crawl up into my lap (not too big a fellow but not a lap dog either) when I would cry, cry in frustration that comes with being the mother of three by the age of 29 with only 8 years of marriage under my belt, cry in grief, cry with hormones, cry as I learned to live with M.S., oh the crying this guy saw.  When Jake was 14 our son said "We need to get another dog now so Jake can train him up." And so we did.  

   And this is Roger--he is quite a bit more anxious than his predecessor and needs a bit more from me than Jake did, but our children are grown and so it is my pleasure to care for Roger.

   The fact is these pets and others have given me insight to the kind of love that looks beyond accidents and bad breath, the kind of love that forgives bad days, the kind of love that senses "Something is not right." 

    What can we learn from our pets?  Comfort, o comfort--look to the stranger who is different than us and judge less, welcome others into our homes and churches with enthusiasm, forgive in a way that frees you to love again. 

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself."
—Josh Billings