Today we said good-bye to our beloved Bee-Dog. Bee was a just shy of 16 year-old, Shepherd-Malamute mix with one brown eye and one blue. This, in conjunction with a snaggle-tooth that occasionally caught her lip and pulled it up slightly, would sometimes scare people a bit.
Which was a great irony as Bee was one of the most gentle / easy going dogs to ever walk the planet. Indeed, we often gave her the well earned title of, “Happiest Dog in America.”
A few things that most of us already know about such dogs but bear repeating:
– Dogs love us unconditionally and as I once said in a column about one of our first dogs, “call me blasphemous if you must, but it is a heart like Christ’s they possess.”
– Dogs will greet you like it is Christmas morning no matter how you treated them or ignored them the night before. They forgive – and then give – and then keep on giving.
– Dogs will stand by you to the death – willing to face down any threat, be it bear, coyote or cougar to save YOUR skin. Or by simply sitting by your bed for weeks, or even months on end, as you slowly fade from life. They will BE there. Always.
– Dogs will serve you with not only their full and undivided attention but the entirety of their heart, demonstrating a devotion and loyalty found in no other animal / human – and frankly, most human / human – relationships.
– Dogs, to put it simply, know how to truly Love.
– And “DOG”, of course is “GOD” spelled backward.
And I think that’s far more than a “coincidence.”
It’s as though the Creator in reflection of what He has already done in Jesus The Christ now whispers, “If you can’t humble yourself enough to receive that beyond words gift, the least you can do while you’re here is take the hint and live life more like one of these . . . The most pure-hearted of all of my beautiful creatures.”
And such – in full measure to the very end – was our Bee-Dog.
Godspeed on your new journey Sweet Bee.
We love you beyond words.
– Stuart Revercomb
