91Èȱ¬

Good morning.  There have been huge changes in my life recently.  Widowed a few months ago, I am learning to live in this new landscape – rather as if I had been parachuted in to a strange land which I did not choose to visit.  Like anybody else living in a foreign land, I have discovered that there are enormous adjustments to make.  Some of them are entirely predictable – the anniversaries and milestones which make up any life.  Others are much more unexpected – such as the emotional impact of discovering that even the small trolley at the supermarket is too large when shopping for one.

Often it is strangers living abroad who are drawn to each other.  There is something about not fitting in and being uncertain of the rules of engagement in this strange place which makes that other person easy to spot. 

A little while ago, I encountered just such a stranger.  She has long legs, muscular hips, white socks and a permanently wet nose.  Her name is Ginny, she is a two-year old brindled lurcher, and we found each other at a dog adoption centre.  Little is known about her past, except that she was born in Ireland, and by the age of 2 there was nobody to care for her.  It was my privilege to step into that particular breach – and now we are learning to trust each other.  As I have watched her learn about how to climb the stairs, how to relax and how to trust – it has helped this stranger in a foreign land too.  We both have a lot to learn – but weaving a rope-bridge of loyalty between us has proved to be a healing thing for both parties.

Dear God, today we thank you for the depth and richness which pets bring into our lives.  Thank you for the humbling degree of trust which they place in us, and the disproportionate amount of joy which they bring.  Help all who have them to care for them well. Amen