God's gracious gift of pets

In 2007, my family got a dog – a beagle when she was just 3 months old. By coincidence or not, she was born a day before my birthday and we got her on my grandmother’s birthday. We named her Debbie. I enjoyed playing with her and disturbing her and so did she. I went on loads of adventures with her and even taught her how to dig sand. Little did I know my parents would be unhappy with her digging sand in the garden? I took her for walks and had loads of fun. She continued to be mischievous dog that proved to be my source of entertainment when I could. She used to get into trouble for various things and would immediately run to my grandmother and sit around her to avoid getting punishment from anyone else. She was truly a smart dog. In hindsight, she taught me a lot of memorable lessons about the Love and nature of God. Following are a number of them:

1. God is understanding and compassionate

In 2009, when I started developing a rare disease that ultimately rendered me bed-ridden, this dog of mine used to just understand the state I was in. She used to go to the left side of my bed or wheelchair because she knew that I could only give her a pat with my left hand. At one point, she used to lick my big toe that was stiff and has spasms. She would stay by my side for as long as she could until she needed to go out or go to sleep. She was understanding and compassionate. She used to know the areas of my body of which I had the most pain and problems. She was always there by my side and was always gentle. Such is the nature of God who always understands us, empathizes with us and never ever belittles us and our sufferings.

2. God delights in us

Furthermore, she used to put a smile on my face. Every time I observed her playfulness, her attentiveness, her understanding nature, and even more when she glanced at me or came to me for a pat, I automatically cheered up and had a big smile on my face. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that God created us to know Him and to love Him. I can relate my relationship with my dog to this teaching. When I humbly and sincerely turn to God, just as my dog turns to me, I am sure God smiles. God delights in every detail of our life (Ps 37:23)

3. God poses a question of our trust in Himself to us

My dog also taught me a lesson about trust in God and hence, surrender to God. She used to chew on a lot of things ranging from socks to plants. This meant that she often got a thorn stuck on the roof of her mouth. At first, she used to just whine and cry, refusing to let me or my family member take it out. However, as we gently pat her, she would eventually calm down and let us remove it. Similarly, over time, every time she kind of choked on something or had something stuck in her mouth, she would immediately allow us to take it out. This is because she grew in trust towards us which helped her surrender. Using the same premise, God gently waits for us to grow in trust in Him so that he can eventually pluck out the weeds in our lives.

4. Ways above ourselves are hard to comprehend

Subsequently, my dog probably had a tough time comprehending certain actions of us humans. That is because our motives and actions are beyond a dog’s ability to understand. They would get confused when we get upset over various things like digging holes, as mentioned above, because to them they seem to be good things. My dog used to put on a pitiful face and go flat on her tummy. She also used to tilt her head whenever she was confused. Similarly, Gods thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55:8) and we often find ourselves questioning God for the circumstances of our lives. We often cannot comprehend why certain things take place, why God allows, even if he doesn’t ordain such things.

5. God is beyond time

Apart from that, my relationship with my dog taught me about our relationship with God in the context of time. One year for a human is equivalent to an average of seven years for a dog. Therefore, being away from my dog for a few hours could feel like days for her and days would feel like weeks. This is why it is understandable that my dog was excited to have me back even though I was not around for barely few hours. Relating similarly, God is beyond time and space. Metaphorically, thousands years for us is like that of a second for God but it cannot be quantified anyway. This is why it is always important to trust in God’s timing. He is beyond time and there He is above all. He is at work and a breakthrough is at hand even if we don’t see it now or in the near future. He makes all things beautiful in His time (Eph 3:11).

6. God is faithful

Debbie also taught me a lesson on faithfulness and loyalty. She was always there unconditionally. Every night, she would not go in the house or to her room until I get back home. There were certain nights where I returned pretty late at night and my parents used to tell me how she refused to go in the house till I got back. So is God, He is forever faithful to us – to Abraham and his prosperity forever. He waits for us to come home, to bring us with Him into His house. Another way to look at it in this context is - just as Debbie was always by our side and faithful to us, her human owners, so must we be loyal and faithful to our one True God and Creator. Faithfulness is an essential and the Lord calls us to be faithful in small things before we can be entrusted with bigger ones. Consistency is a key to faithfulness and Debbie definitely demonstrated that to us throughout the past 11 years.

After I joined University, I missed Debbie a lot. This is probably because I could still contact my family members and have conversations with them but I could not do so with Debbie. Over the last few months, since I joined University, she used to spend every night in my room. I could only go back to my house a few times. The last time I went back, she came to sniff and see if I was awake in the morning. She could not wait for some attention! Before I left for University after a short break, I said goodbye to her and she unusually went and hid behind the door. I guess she sensed something was coming up soon. Little did I know or anticipate what was to come.

My dog was definitely a gift from God. She taught me many invaluable lessons including the ones above and her very nature and beauty helped me appreciate the transcendent force that held her in motion. God’s glory, awe and beauty was truly demonstrated through this wonderful gift of my dog’s life. He is the Creator. My dog’s life belonged to Him not me. After 11 years of having such a wonderful companion, friend and pet, my dog’s time was up. She passed on just a few days ago, I was surely devastated but the memories will forever remain and I am eternally grateful to God for such a wonderful 11-year experience with my beloved dog and all that came with it. What a beautiful gift of love from above!