Sweet Lesson on Love from a Blind Dog

Little Glory didn’t want to be left out of the fun and games. How can you blame her? She had been scheduled for euthanization in the shelter where she had arrived so emaciated it took her days to walk properly, chewed up in lice, open sores all over her body, missing hair, heartworm positive, two cherry eyes, and blind (though she may sometimes see shadows). She loves every minute of her life at Walk by Faith Ministry’s sanctuary/spa/hospice, or should I say playground? So why after all she had been through would she want to be left out of chasing all the tennis balls I toss in all different directions for the dogs that love to chase them? But then how would blind Glory see the tennis ball to chase after it anyway? God gave me a sweet lesson on love just days ago, and Glory enjoyed every minute of it.

Glory before she arrived….

I knelt down with Glory, put the tennis ball in her mouth, and then took it from her. I dropped it so very close to her that all she had to do was move a few inches forward and retrieve it. The ball bounced, and I believe she could hear the sound of the ball bouncing and figure out where it landed. She knew since it had just been in her mouth that it was nearby. So she went after it. Because I dropped it so close by, she could find it very quickly. I cannot describe how much her little bob of a tail wagged when she retrieved it and I yelled, “Yeah, Glory. Good girl! Yeah Glory!” Over and over, I put the ball to her mouth, then dropped it nearby. It didn’t matter to Glory that she couldn’t race across the whole yard to get it like the other dogs. What mattered is that she could get it at all – and that she could stuff it in her very small mouth! Her joy was indescribable – and totally contagious.

Isn’t Glory Beautiful Now? Glory to God!

Glory didn’t concern herself with comparing herself to the other dogs. Nor did she care that I had to modify the game for her so she could play it. What mattered was that she could play at all. I can only imagine how different all of our lives would be if we chose not to compare our lives with those of others, and if we took joy in our blessings even if they don’t look like everyone else’s blessings. But this was not the only lesson I learned from playing catch with Glory.

Only in retrospect did I see the Lord’s love for us all reflected in how I knelt down to meet Glory exactly where she was. Rather than berate her for not being able to do what others can, I loved her right where she was. Rather than criticize her for not being able to keep up with the others, I loved her exactly as she is. Rather than ignore her because “she doesn’t measure up” in the grand scheme of things, I saw such beauty in what she can do despite her seeming limitations. This is how the Lord loves us, is it not?

As for limitations, Glory is not the one with limitations when I think about it. Those of us who have judged and criticized others, those of us who have condemned rather than edified and encouraged, are we not the ones who are limited? When we do not pour out the Lord’s love and compassion onto a world in need, are we not the ones who are limited?

Furthermore, Glory doesn’t see herself as blind. The truly blind one is the person – like myself for so very long – who cannot or chooses not to love. Can you imagine what our world would be like if we all knelt down before the Lord and our fellows to minister His love and compassion to those in need exactly where they are despite their seeming limitations? Imagine if we stopped judging and started loving.

I don’t know about you, but I cannot count the number of times God has stuffed the tennis ball in my mouth, dropped it a short ways away so I could find it, and cried out, “Good girl, Lara, yeah!” I don’t think I will ever measure up in the eyes of the world, but in God’s eyes I am always loved.

Isn’t it time we kneel down and love one another?

Joh 13:35  “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

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