It was Christmas Eve 2004 the phone rang and my niece, working voluntarily at the local Animal Hospital said “We have just received a dreadfully neglected little dog who may not survive can you accommodate her if she does”.
A Yorkshire terrier; not our kind of dog at all but we went to see her anyway and after a few days of intensive treatment we took her home. What a sad sight she was, head & stub of a tail drooping, dull sad eyes that spoke of a life of misery and suffering. Breathing but not living, at one point we thought she had just curled up and died so completely motionless was her poor bedraggled body.
Approaching three years later anyone who has met “Holly “ would witness a very different dog indeed, full of life, bright expressive eyes, a well developed personality (do dogs have personalities?) Confident in manner, as she proudly protects home & family, the difference is a response to love, an ingredient we all need in which to grow and develop our full potential. At times we can all feel unloved and unlovable and sometimes it can perhaps seem easier to love an animal than another human being, especially if that person happens to be someone we don’t particularly like or have difficulty relating to, and sometimes it could be a member of our own family; but God calls us to bear a distinct family resemblance to him and his son Jesus. “This is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” 1 John 4:10 At a time where there are many people and families within St. Martin’s who are experiencing very difficult times for a variety of reasons let us reach out and love one another, “For God is love and whoever lives in love lives in union with God and God lives in union with him”.1John 4:16.
Lesley
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