Back over the weekend of July 11-12, I hauled a trailer-load of furniture down to my kids who live in Milton, WI. (A bedroom community for Janesville.) The furniture came from my mother-in-law's estate, as per her wishes. So a new love-seat got hauled up the steep steps and into my kid's living room. The kitchen chairs got hauled up the steep steps, as well as the kitchen table and table legs. The table got assembled, and the chairs situated around it in my kid's living room.
There were shelves that went into the kid's utility room, and a small freezer that got hauled into my son-in-law's man-cave. Then it was time to help do some cleaning in their garage, since they were still sorting through boxes that had been damaged by flooding. We bagged up 12 bags of garbage to go out by the road along with the old loveseat that had to be dragged down the steep steps to the road-side.
In between we did a little shopping, and a lot of visiting. But…the weekend must have drained me more than I realized. It drove me to "Whiskey!" On the way back from Milton, I did a side-trip to the Spring Green area (southwest of Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells.) From a breeder in that area, I adopted "Whiskey." He's what many call a Teddy Bear, designer breed. 2 lbs, 14 ounces of rambunctious puppy energy, a Shihpoo, according to the AKC. And yes, I named him "Whiskey." The breeder had given him this name, because of Whiskey's color. I kept it. . .for fun. For now you'll hear your Visitation Pastor say after worship, "After I greet you in the back, I'll need to scoot home. I need to get to my Whiskey." Or, when visiting, "Look at the time! I really need my Whiskey."
If I look tired for a while, it's because of crate and potty training for an 11-week old puppy. A smart little guy who hasn't had a mess inside since last Friday, and who sleeps contentedly in his crate while I'm at church or out on visits. That leads me to smile and say, "I love my Whiskey!"
A yet Whiskey is a pet. Just a pet. Many of you have them, too. Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, goldfish, rabbits, whatever. Just a pet, yet a responsibility and a blessing.
A responsibility because our Lord instructed Adam and Eve in the garden, "Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28) The writer of the inspired Proverb explained it this way. "A righteous person understands the needs of his livestock, but the compassion of the wicked is cruel." (Proverbs 12:10)
And in the Book of Job, we find this. "Please ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will inform you. Complain to the earth, and it will teach you, and the fish of the sea will tell you about it. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD did this? The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath in all human flesh." (Job 12:7-10) These verses, and others, teach us to be good managers of the resources our Lord surrounds us with in our lives. And our stewardship includes taking good care of pets!
Plus, these pets, just pets, also become blessings. So much so we become attached, very attached. I can't tell you how many times throughout the years of my ministry, that a brother or sister in Christ was heart-broken because a pet had died. Just a pet, and yet so much more. A buddy. A companion. A good little boy or girl. The years flew by, and the pet died or needed to be put to sleep. And there were tears.
What do I say to such a brother or sister in Christ? "It was only a pet?" No, rather, "I understand. I cried, too, when we had to put a pet to sleep. When the crate or bed was empty. When there was no little smiling face to greet me when I came home."
And then there often follows the question. "Will my pet be with me in heaven?" That, my dear friends, I simply can't answer. God's creatures are not created with a soul like human beings, and yet the Prophet Isaiah describes heaven in this way: "The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the cattle. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9, see also Isaiah 65:25)
Dr. Martin Luther often wrote about pets in heaven, as he did to his son, Hans, age 6. "I know a beautiful garden, where there are a great many children in fine little coats, and they go under the trees and gather beautiful apples and pears, cherries and plums; they sing and run about and are as happy as they can be. Sometimes they ride on nice little ponies, with golden bridles and silver saddles."
So, I have a dog again, as I have had almost all of my life. A responsibility, a blessing, a companion. And that's enough for now. I need my Whiskey!
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
There were shelves that went into the kid's utility room, and a small freezer that got hauled into my son-in-law's man-cave. Then it was time to help do some cleaning in their garage, since they were still sorting through boxes that had been damaged by flooding. We bagged up 12 bags of garbage to go out by the road along with the old loveseat that had to be dragged down the steep steps to the road-side.
In between we did a little shopping, and a lot of visiting. But…the weekend must have drained me more than I realized. It drove me to "Whiskey!" On the way back from Milton, I did a side-trip to the Spring Green area (southwest of Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells.) From a breeder in that area, I adopted "Whiskey." He's what many call a Teddy Bear, designer breed. 2 lbs, 14 ounces of rambunctious puppy energy, a Shihpoo, according to the AKC. And yes, I named him "Whiskey." The breeder had given him this name, because of Whiskey's color. I kept it. . .for fun. For now you'll hear your Visitation Pastor say after worship, "After I greet you in the back, I'll need to scoot home. I need to get to my Whiskey." Or, when visiting, "Look at the time! I really need my Whiskey."
If I look tired for a while, it's because of crate and potty training for an 11-week old puppy. A smart little guy who hasn't had a mess inside since last Friday, and who sleeps contentedly in his crate while I'm at church or out on visits. That leads me to smile and say, "I love my Whiskey!"
A yet Whiskey is a pet. Just a pet. Many of you have them, too. Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, goldfish, rabbits, whatever. Just a pet, yet a responsibility and a blessing.
A responsibility because our Lord instructed Adam and Eve in the garden, "Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28) The writer of the inspired Proverb explained it this way. "A righteous person understands the needs of his livestock, but the compassion of the wicked is cruel." (Proverbs 12:10)
And in the Book of Job, we find this. "Please ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will inform you. Complain to the earth, and it will teach you, and the fish of the sea will tell you about it. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD did this? The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath in all human flesh." (Job 12:7-10) These verses, and others, teach us to be good managers of the resources our Lord surrounds us with in our lives. And our stewardship includes taking good care of pets!
Plus, these pets, just pets, also become blessings. So much so we become attached, very attached. I can't tell you how many times throughout the years of my ministry, that a brother or sister in Christ was heart-broken because a pet had died. Just a pet, and yet so much more. A buddy. A companion. A good little boy or girl. The years flew by, and the pet died or needed to be put to sleep. And there were tears.
What do I say to such a brother or sister in Christ? "It was only a pet?" No, rather, "I understand. I cried, too, when we had to put a pet to sleep. When the crate or bed was empty. When there was no little smiling face to greet me when I came home."
And then there often follows the question. "Will my pet be with me in heaven?" That, my dear friends, I simply can't answer. God's creatures are not created with a soul like human beings, and yet the Prophet Isaiah describes heaven in this way: "The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the cattle. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9, see also Isaiah 65:25)
Dr. Martin Luther often wrote about pets in heaven, as he did to his son, Hans, age 6. "I know a beautiful garden, where there are a great many children in fine little coats, and they go under the trees and gather beautiful apples and pears, cherries and plums; they sing and run about and are as happy as they can be. Sometimes they ride on nice little ponies, with golden bridles and silver saddles."
So, I have a dog again, as I have had almost all of my life. A responsibility, a blessing, a companion. And that's enough for now. I need my Whiskey!
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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