Cody Update

Beloved:

            Last month’s piece about my dog Cody (Creek Running, October 15, 2013) received more comments than any I have written, all of them some version of, he’s the best dog ever so please let him have the surgery.   We did so and given his fan base it seems fitting I send an update.  

One week into his recovery he is still limping heavily and sleeping most of the time.  He has twenty staples down one leg and terrible bruising.  The greatest indignity is the cone he has to wear around his neck to prevent him from licking or chewing at his incision.  The cone also prevents him any peripheral vision so he constantly bonks into door frames and furniture.  We take him back to the vet every few days for a laser treatment which directs a jet of heat into his knee joint and wound site to stimulate healing cell activity.  Arlington Animal Hospital is his second home and Mark the vet assistant is his new best friend.   

I’m finally and completely over any reluctance to compare my dog’s behavior to Christ-likeness.  Cody is always, kind, always patient, always gentle, especially with little kids and disabled people.  He complains rarely and apologetically.  He loves to love and he loves to be loved.  Consequently, he has no enemies, only friends.  At the mention of him, people go all soft eyed and sentimental.  He’s received two get well cards and a box of fancy dog treats through the mail.  His presence blesses us.  

The world would be a profoundly nicer place to live if more people took personality lessons from Cody, or better yet - our Lord.   Gentleness and kindness, inclusiveness and courage through suffering are Christian disciplines that seem to come more easily to creatures without egos but are expected of us two-legged ones nevertheless.  Imagine work meetings absent of ego or complaining.  Imagine simple social interactions driven by kindness and patience.  Imagine the name Church causing people everywhere to go soft eyed and sentimental because the very mention reminded them of being loved by the sweetest people on earth.  

Thanks for your good wishes for Cody.  He’s getting better every day.  May the same days find us getting better too, becoming the people and the church known for our kindness, patience and love.  ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette--