The Terrible Sin of Underestimating Someone
I saw this story a little while ago about a woman who had passed away in Italy and her good and faithful dog returned everyday to the church where the woman’s funeral was held. When the woman was alive, the dog used to attend daily Mass with the woman and sat at her feet in the pew.
According to locals, the dog, “joined mourners at her service, and followed after the owner’s coffin.” The parish priest said the dog arrives every day, when the bells are rung prior to daily mass. "He's there every time I celebrate mass and is very well behaved. He doesn't make a sound." Father Donato Panna was quoted as saying.
It wasn’t too long after reading that article that I saw a very similar article…only this time; it was about the dog of a fallen soldier. Perhaps you saw the picture on the Internet too…a fallen Navy SEAL's Labrador retriever laying next to his owner's casket at a funeral service in Rockford, Iowa, refusing to leave. The picture had been posted to Facebook, by the SEAL’S cousin.
Both of these stories got me to thinking about how little we really know about what our pets are able to comprehend…and how much we underestimate their abilities simply because they cannot speak.
While that may be a tragedy, what really stayed with me was the fact that we do the same with people. We hear stories all the time of the genius locked inside the mind of an autistic person who cannot communicate with the outside world. We have all seen stories of accomplished musicians, mathematical wizards, and artists able to create all types of wonderful art…and yet they lack the ability to speak.
But it goes well beyond those with an affliction like what I mentioned above. We not only underestimate those who cannot speak, we also marginalize those who do not have a voice. The sick, the homeless, the poor, and those whose lives are at risk due to addictions fail to catch our attention because we have tuned out their cries for help. How many times do we encounter someone on the street and fail to see their humanity? Perhaps we need to look beyond what is on the surface and hear what is in another’s heart.
Perhaps our pets are God’s way of reminding us that all life has meaning and purpose, and simply because someone is locked in a world of silence, does not mean they lack value.
I’ll leave you with this…
My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am. ~Author Unknown
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