Thank you G+O+D for D+O+G
10 February 2021
Saying goodbye to a pet, I’ve learned over 25 years of ministry, is one of the hardest situations families must face. Unfortunately, in the immediate days to come, our Wiese family will need to take our turn.
We picked up Jack Russel Riley up from a farm in southwest Ohio. Like many of your pets, this puppy “became one of the family.” Arriving when Morgan was 5 and Luke 9, as all dogs, she became the kids’ most faithful and supportive friend. Until her hearing failed in these last years, Riley streaked to the sound of any door opening to offer her red-carpet welcome. Even if my sermon stunk, LuAnne’s schoolkids were rascals, or the kids brought home a failing grade, she greeted each of us as royalty.
Typically, schoolteacher LuAnne gets up an hour earlier than I do. So, after she let Riley in from her morning business, like clockwork, I could hear Riley’s nails tear across our laminate ground floor, bound up our stairs, shoot down the upstairs hallway and then pounce on to our bed like a cheetah on its prey. No matter if I was hiding under my pillow, she wouldn’t be denied licking my face “good morning” before borrowing under the sheets for her next nap until I left for work.
Many of you join me in wondering if God uses our dogs to shake off our morning doubts and embrace the day’s opportunities. Because of them, so often we whisper the prayer, “Lord, help me today be the person my dog thinks I am.”
The science seems to back up our emotional testimonies. For instance, a Swedish study of 3.4 million participants proved that pooch owners experience a lower risk of both cardiovascular disease and premature death. Not only do dogs incentivize owners to get outside and improve their own health while tending to their pets, dogs may also strengthen the immune system. Babies exposed to canine pets have higher levels of gut bacteria associated with a reduced risk for allergies and obesity.
As we shared in last fall’s Walk into Wittenberg, Martin Luther’s dog was named “Topel,” or “clownie,” because it made the Luther family laugh so much. I wonder if Lutherans are predisposed to enjoying dogs, for it’s legend that Luther saw pets as part of our heavenly future, telling one of his own dogs, “Be thou comforted, little dog, thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail.”
Finally, my canine comrades today, let me offer a delightful song and cartoon by Wendy Franciso. Playing off the fact that “dog” and “God” are semordnilaps, or connected words based on spelling, Francisco masterfully points out several powerful and tender ways God uses dogs as potent partners in faith.