In the next couple of days I want to respond to the questions raised in Annette's comment to my May 12 post. For today, though, just a quick observation.
Yesterday my wife and I took our old dog Ralph to the vet to have him put down. Ralph was a gentle, happy Chow/Border Collie blend, who had been a part of our lives for about sixteen years. He has been a part of the fabric of our family. However, his health deteriorated severely, especially in the last year. He became blind and completely deaf, and painful arthritis made movement difficult. Losing his senses, he became cut off from his world. We couldn't let him suffer any further. Some of you no doubt have had to euthanize a pet, and you know how hard it is. You come to a point where it is the right and loving thing to do, but grief is very real in the doing of it.
I talk a lot about the changes which Jesus-followers and churches must accept and embrace in order to enable people living far from God to feel the embrace of Christ. Sometimes I can become cavalier about those changes, as if people should just take those steps without hesitation. However, those changes involve grief. It means giving up facets of living as a church person and as a congregation to which people have become very accustomed. Even if it's the right thing to do, it will not happen without the pain of loss. I need to remember that even as I lead people to let go of the facets of being a church person and being a church which need to be removed from life support.
We have a mission to fulfill as Jesus-followers, and we cannot sway from it. But let's be gentle with one another when we make the hard decisions necessary to address that mission.
Remembering a good old dog as I paddle along today. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.
Raking Leaves
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Fall is here. The sun is moving towards the edge of the frame where, in
just a few weeks it will hit the bumper rail and start back towards the
other side...
2 years ago
3 comments:
Stan & I painfully released our old bird dog, Buck, this week too. Yes, it was painful for us but we believe it was a blessing for Buck.
Buck was faithful to the end, always providing unconditional love and total forgiveness. Seems so simple to follow the example of a dog yet it's so humanly difficult. God speed to your Ralph.
We are slowly approaching the same situation with our 16 year old dog. 3 years ago we buried his companion of 13 years. The pain of his loss was nearly unbearable. Then, as we were burying him, our granddaughter said the most comforting thing I had ever heard. She calmly said, "we're so lucky Jasper loved us so much!" I had not thought of how much he loved us, only how we had loved and would now miss him.
Much like becoming a follower of Jesus. As we grow through our spiritual journey, we begin to leave old behaviors behind and sometimes acquaintances as well. Whether good or bad... what we have known is all we have known.
Jesus asks us to repent, to turn around, to change... but how do we do that? If we have only known one reality then what is the alternative? This is the question I once asked, and the question I see in the eyes of fearful people who desparately want to change, but honestly don't know what the alternative is.
I remember that fear, and I remember the hand that reached out to me and said, "Take my hand, I'll walk with you... one step at a time." Today, that's my "job"... to hold out my hand and let others know I will walk with them, they don't have to figure it out alone, or even all at once, just take my hand, let's go for a walk... together, and see where it leads.
For some, they need to find out that someONE can love them before they can even begin to fathom that Jesus loves them.
I am blessed that Jesus loved me so much, that he sent the person who first held out their hand and offered to walk WITH me...one step at a time.
Annette and Odaat:
If all of us as followers of Jesus could love as unconditionally and be loyal as completely as Buck, Jasper, and Ralph, there would be revival throughout the land!
Geoff
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