When i was a young teenager, i don’t recall my exact age maybe 14, we put our family dog, Shawnee down. Shawnee was a beautiful, intelligent, protective, friend. A full bread German-Shepherd who had been with us since i was just two years old. As with many German-Shepherd’s Shawnee suffered from debilitating hip dysplasia. i remember the day the decision was made, i carried her to the car and put her in the back seat in tears. She looked grateful, of course i don’t really know what she was thinking but it was almost as if she knew and was thinking, “thank you, you have been good to me, it is my time, I love you;” Spoken with her eyes and the gentle nudge of her nose to my cheek.

Later, i would have a similar experience with Nanook a coyote/terrier mix. Think of a coyote’s long pointy snout and slim build, covered in the shag of a terrier’s fur. She was incredibly loyal, protective, and loving. As i held her in the veterinary office and watched them inject her, the relief in her eyes as the pain faded away, i again sensed the thoughts of gratitude. “Thank you for all you have done, I am ready to go but know this, I have and always will love you.”

While serving as pastor, i sat with many a family as they said goodbye to a loved one being taken off life support. The words of affection spoken to mostly lifeless bodies by those remaining behind always tore at my heart. Being a comfort in a time like that is never easy and no matter how many times i had experienced it, it never got easier. Death is uncomfortable, even when expected.

In 2020 i said goodbye to my mom. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in April and she died in August. While on hospice she was home so we got to spend that time with her as opposed to how hospitals were treating families due to Covid, inhumanely. However, watching my mom fade away each day was ten times worse than being in the room with members of my congregation as they said goodbye to a family member i really didn’t know.

We strive to live forever in a fallen world rather than celebrate into our forever, eternity with Yahoshua. Of course families who do not have that hope or are saying goodbye to someone who doesn’t have that hope will rightly grieve more difficultly. Not withstanding this notion of the lost-loved-one, for what do we preserve life that we sacrifice our loved ones to pain and torment? We treat our pets with more dignity.

i was talking with Melvin, a friend of mine, one evening. He recently lost his mom. As we talked about grief and loss, we also discussed the impact such an event has on the family dynamics. Through our conversation that evening i was once again struck with the inhumanity of humanity. Don’t get me wrong life is precious. We only get one shot on earth really, but i think we need to seriously consider our end of life options. No i am not talking about letting people suicide themselves because life is hard or uncomfortable or even when suffering some incurable disease, at least not in the beginning. That’s really a side note, just me thinking out loud with my fingers. The point that i want to make here was made in that very famous Pete Seeger song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Also, you can find it in the pages of Scripture . . . Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
YHWH’s Given Task
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that Elohim has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Written into the pages of Elohim’s sacred book we see that time is ordained. There is a time for every purpose and that He, YHWH, El Shaddai, has made. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what Elohim has done from the beginning to the end.

i don’t necessarily have the answer to this one. When i began writing, i simply wanted to express the idea, that we treat our pets with greater compassion than we do our human loved ones. And as i read the words in Ecclesiastes and sing the song in my head i can’t help but wonder, how might we treat end of life situations with a bit more compassion and humanity? And, more importantly, how do we steal time, or redeem time, or spend time in a way that expresses the Creators beauty of life?

You are loved,
cj