Only One Best Friend

Only One Best Friend

So last Thursday, I was talking to my friend and I told her how she reminded me of my dog. Now I know some of you are laughing and some of you are shaking your heads and there are those of you that are doing both, but before you pass judgment on the statement, understand that it was meant to be a good thing.

God gave us this gift called love and there are many types of love but there is a special type of love that is only shared by Best Friends, this friend you can tell anything and not only will they not tell anyone else, but they will not judge you either.

Well for me, this friend is my dog, and his name is “Wee-Man”. Now I know that you are thinking, the reason my dog does not tell anyone is because he cannot talk and the reason he does not judge me is because he cannot understand what I am telling him. While both of the statements are true, he does love me unconditionally and that is how much I love him too.

There is a Poem by Rudyard Kipling I would like to share it with you:

“The Power of the Dog”

There is sorrow enough in the natural way

From men and women to fill our day;

And when we are certain of sorrow in store,

Why do we always arrange for more?

Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware

Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy

Love unflinching that cannot lie–

Perfect passion and worship fed

By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.

Nevertheless it is hardly fair

To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

 

When the fourteen years which Nature permits

Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,

And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs

To lethal chambers or loaded guns,

Then you will find–it’s your own affair–

But…you’ve given your heart for a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,

With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);

When the spirit that answered your every mood

Is gone–wherever it goes–for good,

You will discover how much you care,

And will give your heart for the dog to tear.

We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,

When it comes to burying Christian clay.

Our loves are not given, but only lent,

At compound interest of cent per cent.

Though it is not always the case, I believe,

That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve:

For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,

A short-time loan is as bad as a long–

So why in Heaven (before we are there)

Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

When I read this poem I had to ask myself the question; why do love my dog knowing that I have at best 15 or so years with him?

And as I thought about it the only answer I could come up with is the same answer to why I would be willing to give my heart to another person knowing that someday that love might end.

The reason is clear because when I look in his eyes, I see the love that has no price. I come home every day and all my dog “Wee-man “wants to do is play.

He loves me with no conditions set even when I get upset, all I must do is set on the floor and he comes and sits next to me and wants nothing more.

Well as I said the reason I love my dog is because when I see how much he loves me, I know there is no greater gift I could ask for.

The same goes for why I would be willing to take the chance on loving another person, when the first time it ended after 20 years. When two people find the type of love that binds your hearts together so strong that you can do nothing else but think about them when your apart and when you are together all you want to do is sit on the floor and hold hands and talk all night. Well I will say nothing more.

People say there is one person out there for everyone, well if that is true, all I ask is for that one person to love me like my dog loves me. There is a song called “Like a Dog” it a good song and if you get the chance download it and give it a Listen.

 There are four things I have learned about love over the years and they are:

1)      Only God knows the future

2)      Look beyond the bark and see the puppy

3)      When you love, love unconditionally

4)      And most of all, Put God first

When you understand these four things, all matters of the heart are easy, it is truly that simple.

I have one dog, because I can only have “One Best Friend”.