Rosie and Grace

August 20, 2024
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Beloved:
          Having  a much busier than usual Tuesday and a terrible case of writer’s block, I  went looking for an August column from years gone by and came across this one about Rosie Cotton, the second of the four golden retrievers who came to live with our family.  We lost her in 2022. She was the sweetest soul.  Here she is as a pup and about a year before she died.    Enjoy! ​

August 9, 2016
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Beloved:
          Rereading old journals I came across a memory of Rosie Cotton who is now the older of our golden retrievers, from when she was just a baby.   
          Rosie Cotton is in deep denial regarding her tennis ball addiction.  Convinced there’s a ball in the powder room, she accidentally shuts the door while searching.    Stuck in the bathroom, she sings like a heartsick coyote until someone lets her out.  At first she’s joyful, but the cravings soon return and she is powerless over them. She cries to get back in.  If I keep the door shut, she cries some more.
          Rosie has no desire to change nor any idea how she keeps getting stuck.  How many times a day  do I find myself stuck in a loop of negative thinking, deprecating myself and others?  Or turning to habits and appetites that numb the ordinary stresses of living?  Or to conversations that edify none, but taste so delicious in the moment?    
          Epiphany! The lesson isn’t about sin, but grace.  As our powerlessness grows, so we grow ever nearer to the Loving One who is on pins and needles, delirious with the desire to open the door and escort us to the divine reality of our helplessness and God’s grace. 
          I pray this day finds you living fully in the grace of God. 

peace & prayers,
~ pastor annette