Last June, Kay bought a small four year-old rescue dog named Trudy. She had been found as a stray on the streets of Spartanburg and was on the list at the pound to be put down. But Carolina Poodle Rescue snatched her and put her up for adoption. She had an odd hitch in her gait, and Dr. Tapp discovered that Trudy had a dislocated hip. Before long, the dear little dog (ten pounds) had recovered from surgery, had settled into life in our parsonage and even gained a pound.
Trudy is more than we hoped for. She is lively and playful. She loves to cuddle with Kay. Though she barks too much at pedestrians walking by and guests who come to our door, she is protecting us and the parsonage. That’s not so bad! At first we assumed that Trudy had been poorly treated (how else do you explain an untreated dislocated hip?) and that she had no training. Much to our surprise Trudy knew some commands. Next she showed us (yes, showed us) that she already knew how to play fetch. So taking advantage of the big entrance hallway in the parsonage she has a place to scamper after balls and other doggy toys. She can even catch them in mid-air.
A little online research has shown us that she may be a full-blooded Tibetan Spaniel, a small breed developed by Tibetan monks to serve as watch-dogs. So we have a wonderful little dog. We have a lot to say grace over. But who can we thank? I don’t know how to contact any Tibetan monks. We have no idea who trained her. So who can we thank?
I find it’s the same with a lot of life’s greatest gifts. The ones who gave us life itself, who educated us, who tolerated us patiently while we matured – most of them are gone or were never known to us in the first place. How can I thank the people who more than a hundred years ago started First UMC and kept it going through difficult times? How can you thank the engineers who designed the safe roads you travel on, the doctors who saved your life when you were a kid, the Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders and Sunday School teachers whose names you have forgotten but who taught you some of life’s most important lessons? We are left almost speechless when we consider the amazing gifts of life and those who presented them to us. You could never write enough thank you notes even to the ones whose addresses you can find.
So who can you thank? It just about takes you to your knees.
See you in church on Sunday, a place where we have a lot to say grace over.
— Paul Wood