Love's Healing Power
Those of you who own pets understand the daily joy a loving animal can bring to the household. You are also keenly aware of the grief that ensues when your pet dies. My husband and I have said farewell to 3 deeply loved dogs… Samantha, Max and Sushi. After each death, we declared, ‘Never Again! As much as we loved having a pet, we did not want to go through the work and inevitable grief again. But after a year, the yearning for a pet overrode our reluctance.
When Sushi died in 2019, we were even more adamant. During 2020, when many people acquired ‘pandemic puppies’ we held firm. In 2021, however my resolve cracked and I began searching for a 4-legged son or daughter. In March of this year, Preston, a Red-tick Coonhound, chose us to be his humans. As we were filling out paperwork at the Door County Humane Society, we were told, ‘he’s a special needs dog’. They pointed out the scars on his body, he was underweight and never had a loving home. Being experienced pet owners, we thought we were prepared for anything. The first few months were exhausting. Preston reacted badly to men, dogs on leashes, moving cars and being left alone. My husband leaving for any reason precipitated mournful howls. As experienced as I was training dogs to walk properly on a leash, I was no match for Preston’s powerful lunges. One sent me sailing through the air and into x-ray machines after the hard landing.
After 7 months, people who see him now marvel at the transformation. He’s friendly, calm, playful and sweet. He’s still a lunatic around leashed dogs, so my apologies in advance to anyone walking past us. Fortunately, a no-pull harness keeps him from sending me airborne.
I understand why people turn in ‘Special Needs’ pets to shelters. Having affection for a pet is not enough. Love requires infinite patience, hard work and hard knocks!
During 2021, I have felt like my ‘Special Needs’ dog- inwardly trembling and outwardly snarling. There have been articles about how rude and short-tempered we have become. The rudeness is a response to trauma. Whether or not we admit it, we have all been traumatized- by the surges of the pandemic, by illness and rising death counts. Our trauma is on display in different ways- some withdraw from society, others act out in anger and belligerence. I don’t believe that a simple return to ‘the way things were’ is going to reverse our collective trauma. The only cure for that is Love: The Love that endures. The Love that works hard. The Love that is infinitely patient with us. This is the Love that is described in Jeremiah 31:3 where God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” The God who loves us in spite of our Special Needs (or perhaps, because of them!), will exercise continuous patience with us.
Knowing that we are deeply loved by God, knowing that we are never alone, we can deal with our own trauma-responses differently. Rather than attacking or retreating, perhaps there’s a ‘more excellent way’- of kindness, of consideration, of compassion, of vulnerability. Rest in the knowledge, dear friends, that through the infinite patience of God, we can transform ourselves, and this little corner of the world in which we inhabit. The next time someone snarls at you due to their own trauma, be kind and compassionate. Love has incredible healing power.
When Sushi died in 2019, we were even more adamant. During 2020, when many people acquired ‘pandemic puppies’ we held firm. In 2021, however my resolve cracked and I began searching for a 4-legged son or daughter. In March of this year, Preston, a Red-tick Coonhound, chose us to be his humans. As we were filling out paperwork at the Door County Humane Society, we were told, ‘he’s a special needs dog’. They pointed out the scars on his body, he was underweight and never had a loving home. Being experienced pet owners, we thought we were prepared for anything. The first few months were exhausting. Preston reacted badly to men, dogs on leashes, moving cars and being left alone. My husband leaving for any reason precipitated mournful howls. As experienced as I was training dogs to walk properly on a leash, I was no match for Preston’s powerful lunges. One sent me sailing through the air and into x-ray machines after the hard landing.
After 7 months, people who see him now marvel at the transformation. He’s friendly, calm, playful and sweet. He’s still a lunatic around leashed dogs, so my apologies in advance to anyone walking past us. Fortunately, a no-pull harness keeps him from sending me airborne.
I understand why people turn in ‘Special Needs’ pets to shelters. Having affection for a pet is not enough. Love requires infinite patience, hard work and hard knocks!
During 2021, I have felt like my ‘Special Needs’ dog- inwardly trembling and outwardly snarling. There have been articles about how rude and short-tempered we have become. The rudeness is a response to trauma. Whether or not we admit it, we have all been traumatized- by the surges of the pandemic, by illness and rising death counts. Our trauma is on display in different ways- some withdraw from society, others act out in anger and belligerence. I don’t believe that a simple return to ‘the way things were’ is going to reverse our collective trauma. The only cure for that is Love: The Love that endures. The Love that works hard. The Love that is infinitely patient with us. This is the Love that is described in Jeremiah 31:3 where God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” The God who loves us in spite of our Special Needs (or perhaps, because of them!), will exercise continuous patience with us.
Knowing that we are deeply loved by God, knowing that we are never alone, we can deal with our own trauma-responses differently. Rather than attacking or retreating, perhaps there’s a ‘more excellent way’- of kindness, of consideration, of compassion, of vulnerability. Rest in the knowledge, dear friends, that through the infinite patience of God, we can transform ourselves, and this little corner of the world in which we inhabit. The next time someone snarls at you due to their own trauma, be kind and compassionate. Love has incredible healing power.
Dawn Volpe
Pastor at Ephraim Moravian Church
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