“Let me give you the bad news and then some good news”
That was the way the phone conversation began on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving – a call for which we were waiting from the vet went something like this: “Abby has T- Cell Lymphoma. Yes it is serious, but it is not Leukemia, and its effects will not be immediate. It is cancer but not an aggressive cancer. Her white cell count is not yet even at 1/ 3 of that number where chemo is going to have to be considered.” All things being equal, she may be with us for a couple of years more.
Of course such news brings sadness. All the stages of grief come into play be they for a family member, a friend or even a quirky beloved border collie. So Abby, a theologian at heart, and I had one of “those conversations” since she knew that our relationship is now changing. She reminded me to stop feeling sadness. Life is always too short, and sadness, while completely natural and honest, often makes us incapable of appreciating a deeper reality that needs to be recognized and preached. And most of all, it prevents us from experiencing the joys that are still so very real.
Abby reminded me that a few years ago, I had had a serious sit down talk with one of the kids in the Confirmation Class. She had lost a beloved pet, but now was being told at school that since only humans have an immortal soul, once a pet dies, it ceases to exist. “Once you’re dead, you’re dead” goes the saying. I told her that some Christian Churches do teach this. But touching upon my own reading of Holy Scripture, I also know from First Letter of St. John that “God is love, and he (obviously also she) who abides in love, abides in God, and God in (them).” I remember telling her that our pets are given to us to take care of and to enjoy. They give love and receive love. They abide in love – and so, taking my bible to heart, I know they abide in God. And they will do so after they die. So, Abby barked, remember what you once told this young parishioner, and now you live into that truth. Believe in life eternal – including my life.
Abby jogged my memory as she reinforced things I already knew: that it is the humans who commit crimes, hurt each other and are capable of moral evil. Humans sin, not animals! Our pets do not create weapons of mass destruction, commit random acts of terrorism, despoil our environment, cheat, embezzle, ignore the cry of the poor or homeless, abuse women and children, or pretend to be what they are not. Our pets simply give love and hopefully receive love. Yes they can be willful, stubborn, and even disobedient. But that can be for our benefit as well. After all, who can stand living with anyone (on two or four legs) who thinks he or she is perfect?
There was a reason, Abby commented, why St. Francis of Assisi preached to the birds and animals. (She clearly does not think that this is only a pious legend but actually did happen). Whereas people can turn off the message of goodness, animals do not. Be worthy of the message. Our pets are. We – not always.
So yes, while I know that cancer is not going to return Abby’s body to “dust and ashes” in the near future –still a premature passing is waiting for her (and all of us if I am honest) much sooner than we would like. So I listen to my theologically gifted pet: don’t put off spending time to be with those you love. Appreciate friendships. Live as a child of God. Be enthusiastic. Be kind to those who need kindness, and not merely to those who deserve it. Bark if you have to. And know that when life’s journey comes to an end, even if “too soon” as it apparently will be the case for Abby, our loving God waits for us all in our true and lasting home – if only we would live our lives in God’s love. So make use of the time you’ve been given and, as St. Paul wrote (and Abby learned) “walk in love, as Christ loved us.”
Fr. Joe