Security of Love

It's a lousy picture.  If you look really closely, you will see a terrified Newfoundland mix next to Santa.  Yep, that was our Guinness, afraid of strangers.

Guinness must have been abused before we adopted him.  He was a stray from the wrong side of the tracks.  In the seven years we owned him, he never experienced a reason to be fearful.  Yet he viewed strange noises and visitors as if he was under serious assault.  Even if a person was someone he saw regularly, he still greeted them with barks and circling the property, ready to bolt into the woods at any given moment (which he actually did now and then).

It was frustrating.  It was hard to keep loving him when he behaved so stupidly.  Of course to Guinness, there was nothing stupid about it.

When we meet people who seem ridiculous, often there is a story of deep pain and abuse that we can not determine.  Even that person may not be able to adequately explain the fears that drive behavior.

Christ said to love our enemies.  He said that the downcast were blessed.  If our hearts are to be aligned with the heart of God, we've got some serious work to do.  I don't know about you, but that's not something that comes naturally to me.  And I'm not so great at faking it either.  The only hope is to ask God to do the changing, in my heart and those around me who are broken and in pain.