And the Lord
said, " I will
give you a gift,
a precious gift
that will
gladden your
heart and make
your life richer
and happier than
you ever
imagined
possible. There
is a
small condition
attached to the
gift: a bit of
generosity is
required of
you. You must,
whenever the
time comes, be
willing to give
the gift back to
me. You must be
willing to part
with that gift
even though it
has become
terribly
precious to
you. I do not
ask you to be
unemotional; you
may grieve and
cry and feel all
the normal
natural feelings
that arise when
you lose
something
precious. That
certainly
signifies that
the gift was a
true treasure to
you, and that it
has been a
blessing in your
life.
The difficult
test is that you
love me enough
to permit me to
take your
treasure away
from you so that
it will be with
me. You are
faced with a
dilemma; are you
to risk some
sadness and
grief far down
the road
in order to gain
immediate joy
and
companionship?
That is your
question; that
is your
choice. What I
will give you
will be a
stranger at
first but the
manner and the
nature of it
will be to
insinuate itself
into your soul
and to become
part, a lovely
part, of your
life. You will
find this new
friend to
be anxious to
please, and
amenable to
training. You
will find that
it becomes
part of your
family and will
add much to the
harmony of that
family. It will
teach you
lessons you
didn't know you
needed, and it
will affirm its
love for you in
a hundred, nay a
thousand,
different ways.
It will bring
joy in the
morning when the
day is just
beginning and it
will bring peace
and contentment
as it sleeps by
your feet and
asks nothing
more than to
love and to be
loved.
That stranger
will become a
friend, and then
a companion and
a trusted ally.
That stranger
will teach you
more than a
little about its
kin and the
manners and
maxims of the
denizens of its
world. You will
see
and hear your
world through a
new set of eyes
and ears and, if
you pay
attention, you
might get a bit
of an idea of
the importance
of the world of
smell. This
isn't difficult
knowledge to
gather in the
presence of this
gift. You only
have to watch,
listen and hear.
I can almost
guarantee that
when time comes
for me to call
this gift, this
"loaner" friend,
home; you will
be heart broken
at having to
give it up. If
you have a heart
at all it will
break. But this
is a loan and
you do
not really
"possess" it.
It is yours for
a while and then
it has to come
home to me. You
must be willing
to suffer pain
if you hunger
for joy. You
must be willing
to lose it all
if you are given
the world. But
even if your
life will never
be the same, you
cannot help but
change for the
good. Your life
will be spangled
with memories of
joy and
satisfaction; of
pride and
humility. You
will be left
with wonderful
memories, and
you will be left
yearning to
repeat that
experience
again.
I'll be there
with another
loan. I'll be
there with a new
being that will
be as different
from the first
as different can
be, and you will
learn to love it
too. It will
never be the way
it was, but it
could be even
better. All I
ask is that you
have an open
mind and a heart
that will hold a
dog."
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