From the Pastor's Pen

Dear friends,

Some of you may not be aware that Mike and I now have two dogs at our house.  (Yes, you should pray for me.)  With my parents entering Assisted Living, we have taken in their little dog, a Corgi/ Rat Terrier mix named Abby.  It may be possible with a lot of training that Abby may one day live with my parents at Hubbard Hill, but in the meantime we are now the Proud owners of two dogs and it’s a bit of challenge.

The truth is neither dog is used to having another dog around and there is some jealousy between them.  So if I happen to reach down to pet one of the dogs, the other rushes over to push the first dog aside.  Then some rough housing follow accompanied by pushing and mouthing and “play” biting that doesn’t always seem playful to me.  We’ve taken to separating them when it escalates in this way.

Unfortunately I have observed that neither my husband nor I are now petting, ear scratching or tummy rubbing the way we used to because we know that as soon as we start with one, the other will be coming around with green eyes.  This happened again last night as we were finishing supper, and I observed to my husband, “Everyone would sure be a lot happier and get a lot more attention if the two of them could just learn to share the affection!”

As soon as I said it, it occurred to me that there is a lot of truth in this statement for we humans as well.  We often see the evidence of jealousy in children who have not learned to hide their feelings as well as adults, but jealousy crops up in we adults as well.  It is particularly damaging when we are jealous for the affections, attention or blessings of God.  Sometimes we look at someone else’s blessings or talents or gifts and wish those blessings could have come to us.  Sometimes we observe a spirituality in another person and wish it was ours.  We may even wonder if the love of God is more limited for us while poured out lavishly on another. 

If there has even been a question in your mind of whether your heavenly Father loves you as much as one of your siblings in Christ, send that thought away.  God’s love is lavish and endless for each of us.  We are each beloved children, and it seems to me that …. the more we welcome God’s love for our siblings in the Lord, the more love we become aware of being showered on us!

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”  (I John 3:1)

Peace,

Pr. Sally