A Lesson in Unconditional Love

As some may know, just the week before Christmas I lost my companion of six years, Buddy the Dog. Buddy was a sweet-natured black lab who loved everyone he met (except some dogs, which I could never figure out). But people, he just loved people.
 
I think that was his great lesson to me and I share it with you. Buddy didn’t care who you were, what you did or how much money you had. If you were kind to him you received that kindness back. Even those who ignored him still got his attention, because he couldn’t let you go without an acknowledgement. He always wanted to know who was around and he always wanted to see if they had a treat. He loved his treats. In fact, he loved treats more than regular food. I suppose that just makes him a normal dog but I always found it endearing.
 
When I’d first see him in the morning he would always roll over and wait for the old belly rub and when he got that he’d roll back over and go back to snoozing and I’d go off to Mass or whatever was occupying my day. He just was the master of unconditional love and he got me to thinking always, why can’t we be more like him and his kin?
 
We’re just about to celebrate Christmas, a feast about love if there ever was one and yet I dare say most people don’t even understand that God so loved the world He sent His only Son. God is far more cognizant of His love for us than we are of our love for Him or even each other, but the lesson I hope we learn is that we need to express our love, we need to forgive those who have hurt us and we need to keep going back for more just like Buddy did. He always brought the love.
 
I hope and pray that this feeling of loss will go away, but I also know that love does hurt precisely because we abandon ourselves to it. I think it’s probably the only way to live, otherwise we would never let anyone in. We would spare ourselves the pain, but in the process we become less human along the way. I guess that’s Buddy’s legacy. He made all around him more human in allowing us to love him. Of course it makes saying goodbye that much harder, but that’s the way life is when you love. Thanks to all who have expressed their condolences and know that it means so very much to me. Peace and God bless.
 
Fr. Chip