Lent 2022, Day 28




 ⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

In this little parable from Luke 7, Jesus defends a “sinful woman” from a pious religious leader who sees her only as her past and social status. This leader also does not truly appreciate who Jesus is and diminishes his presence while he’s diminishing the woman. Jesus points out that the woman, forgiven of much, is naturally going to be more grateful—but he also points out that the religious leader needs forgiveness too; he’s just less likely to realize it.

Once again I bring my dogs (MY DOGS!!) into a discussion of holy things. Why do I keep doing this? Honestly.

I think of Calvin, who one frustrated (and failed) trainer described as “to the manor born.” Calvin owes us NOTHING. He deserves every bit of love and snackies we give him. He’s possibly the most entitled being I’ve ever met. We exist for him. Lucky for him that he’s cute and furry and funny and lovable in his own weird way. But he’s never grateful, and that’s fine, whatever. We never expected gratitude from our pets.

Along come Feynman and Libby, and they ADORE us. All the time with the adoration. I’m probably once again guilty of anthropomorphizing,

but they really do seem grateful and appreciative. They show their affection to us, sometimes annoyingly, sometimes heart-breakingly, but they seem to know that they need us. They were saved from something horrible, and I get the sense that they will spend the rest of their lives thanking us for that. I wish they wouldn’t; I wish they could just be carefree dogs, but maybe some wounds are too deep to completely heal. They are both broken and expensive and a lot of work—and are absolutely worth every bit of it. I have a feeling that’s how Jesus sees us—how do we see him? Are we grateful or entitled?

Either way, we are loved. 

#lent2022 #rescuedogsofinstagram #repentandbelieve #bibleinoneyear 

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