Yesterday we signed the contract that means that we get to keep Snuffles (our dog) for sure. The Humane Society had placed her with us for a tryout period and now they have approved of us as her new family. The contract we signed is interesting and got me thinking. You see, it was a contract to borrow her.
Snuffles (we had to let them know about the name change we had already given her) remains the property of the Humane Society, while we have all the pleasures and ‘pains’ (financial responsibility). This is actually a construction to protect the animal. It seems that in this construction it is much easier to prosecute people who abuse animals. In this way, the abusers would be abusing someone elses ‘property’ and the ‘property’ (the dog) could be removed from the abusive situation.
The reality is that most people provide good homes. What this brought home to me was the temporary nature of things and the responsibilities that we have in life. Not to sound too crude, but we have also ‘borrowed’ our children from God. He has placed them in our hands to be cared for, trained up and, most of all, loved as he would do. They are not property. They are not ‘ours’. And while we certainly will experience the ‘pains’, we will also enjoy the pleasures of their smiles, laughter and learning as they grow up before our eyes.
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