Today I had to do one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do. Our golden retriever “Buddy” has been having trouble getting around for some time. Over the last several days it has become clear that he can no longer even stand without help. The time had come for him to be put out of his pain. Today Josiah and I carried him to the car, took him to the vet, laid him down on a blanket on the floor and waited beside him while he was given a shot that enabled him to drift calmly off to sleep, never to wake again. It is at times like this that we remember what good friends our dogs are. No matter what kind of a day we have they meet us at the door as if we are the greatest person in the world; no matter what other people say about us they are always our friend; no matter how angry we might get about a broken vase or tipped garbage can, they are always ready to welcome us back with a wagging tail and a slobbery kiss. Buddy was a wonderful dog and it was a terribly sad time when he couldn’t get up and wag his tail, but it reminds us all that we live in a broken world.

In Mark’s version of the Temptation narrative there is a wonderful little statement about Jesus. Mark says that Jesus was “with the animals” (my translation). There are a variety of ideas about what that passage means, but here is mine: Jesus had defeated Satan and there was for a small time a taste of Eden on Earth. The animals no longer sought to harm or kill each other or a human but lived in harmony. It is a glimmer of what the new heaven and earth will be. We walked out of the vet’s office with tears, leaving behind a friend of many years, yet we know that one day the world will not be this way, one day the world will be changed, one day the world will be what it should be. I look forward to that world and though I have very little theological basis for it, I hope Buddy will be there. At the end of the book of Jonah God does seem to say that he has special mercy on animals. I hope so, but that is all it is.

In honor of Buddy, what follows is part of a chapter from my book on Greek grammar. I like to think that he would have been pleased to be of help, even after he was gone.

We have a new resident at our house. He was a gift from the humane society and his name is “Buddy.” Buddy is a large, beautiful Golden Retriever. The problem is that Buddy seems to have been mistreated by his former owner which has led to certain eccentric behaviors. He has a great deal of difficulty going through doors (a very serious problem for a dog who needs to go outside); he walks around the house most of the time with all the grace of a pig on ice skates, his feet slipping and sliding with every step; lastly he is deathly afraid of thunderstorms. A fact which we discovered when we came home to find the cat door torn off its hinges and resting around Buddy’s neck like some sort of a square collar. In short, Buddy can be a nuisance, which is, I am sure, why his former owners gave him away.

We have kept Buddy, though I have often been tempted (and yes even threatened) to take him back to the pound. I suppose that I have not taken him back to the pound because he needs us. And in truth we need him to remind us of what God has done for us. He has taken us into his family, and even though we are fearful, less than graceful, and we even break things, he still loves us.

The message of Christianity is that we all belong in the pound. But we have been adopted into the family of God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be thankful to God for the ultimate sacrifice of his son, Jesus.

So Long Buddy,

Anastasia, Anastasia, Anastasia