Offering Grace

Hi! Just me, Dunky, having existential thoughts as I rest my head on the couch and gaze out the window.

A few weeks ago I had a birthday! I turned eleven! I know it's hard to believe with all my puppy-like behavior (eating, napping, eating, snoozing) but yes, I am eleven years old. When I look back at my long doggy-life, I have to say… I have no regrets. I spent the first half of my life with a pretty high purpose (I was an in-house therapy dog for an eating disorder residential) and now have spent the second half of my life focused on one human and keeping her safe, happy, and loved. I'd say it's been a pretty good life. I even have a really great extended family that loves me so much. They pet me, hug me, tell me how cute I am, play chase with me, bring me treats- it's great!

Sometimes commercials come on TV with horribly depressing music and sad dogs who look lost and unloved. My mom starts to tear up whenever she sees them, then she hugs me, and tells me how much she loves me. I’m all about the extra hugs so bring on the sad dog commercials !! Just kidding. I’m not a monster.

It’s hard for me to imagine a life outside of my own experiences. I lived in the suburbs of Chicago and now live in rural western Illinois. These are my two frames of reference. But when I watch those commercials, I see dogs living on the streets angry and sad. I could turn the channel and try to forget about them or I could watch and allow my mind to open to someone else’s suffering and life experience.

They don’t know what it’s like to have food and a warm bed every night. That really wrecks me when I stop to think about it. It wrecks me to think about my brother Cohen not knowing a steady home until he was 1.5 years old and came to live with our parents from the shelter. Maybe he was one of those sad angry dogs on the street. And now he’s my happy-go-lucky, goofy brother who loves to be tucked in with a blanket and wags his tail constantly. His circumstances and opportunities changed in an instant.

Without the kind- hearted person who scooped him off the streets in Oklahoma and brought him to a shelter, without the kind- hearted person from Naperville Humane Society who rescued him from that high- kill shelter in Oklahoma, I don’t know where my befumbly brother would be. The right people were in the right place to save him from a future he had no control over.

On cable news right now, I see a lot of judgement and a lot of hate (I know I’m a dog but yes I watch the news). I see people condemning anyone and everyone who doesn’t see things from their frame of reference. It’s hard for me to understand how our society has become so polarized. How others see people with opposite opinions as “the enemy” instead of human beings they’d like to understand.

My dog brother had the right people in the right place to help change his future. They didn’t judge him for being on the streets. They didn’t tell him he was too hyper or too untrained to be loved. They gave him grace. What he did with that opportunity was up to him.

As a society, I think we could make a lot of progress if our first response was grace. Yes, there are issues worth fighting for. Of course. But first grace. Not hate and judgement.

Who could you offer a little grace and understanding to today?