I often mention my travels around town while blogging.  Usually, the “fuel” for my ranting is something stupid—a thoughtless bumper sticker, aggravating church signs (the one I saw today read: “God is here.  Where are you?”), and such.  But my travels today reminded me that some people are so cruel that they will hurt the least of us.  Mary-Alice and I were driving down a main highway when we spotted an obviously starving pit bull.  We pulled over.  I called to him, and he wagged his tail as if he were expecting us.  But then we saw them—the bite marks and puncture wounds.  The maggots.  Mary-Alice took it hard; I did too.  It was obvious that the dog was the victim of the often celebrated, but very cruel practice of dog fighting.  His sweet disposition led the director of the SPCA to suspect he was used as bait—a way to engage the more aggressive dogs into fighting. 
 
We took him to the SPCA farm, where he was photographed for evidence of cruelty.  We gave him water and then he went on to the vet.  And so we waited.  I hoped he would be able to come live with us as our foster dog after the vet visit.  And then the call came.  The call you don’t want to get when you’re the one who rescued the animal.  The call informing me that he was put to sleep.  He never had a chance, really.  I guess it was the best we could do for him.  But I cried any way.  I cried because he would never know what a regular meal is.  He would never know what it was like to have love, treats, toys, and his own dog bed.  He would never know what it was like to sleep in a home where he is the cherished, beloved family pet.  Maybe I’m getting sappy here, but really, when would be a better time?  I know I’m a self-centered jerk many days, but it’s just hard for me to understand how one living being can treat another living being this way.
 
But fortunately, life is not all bad.  Nope—because today I had a reality check.  It concerns a friend of mine, the very creative, the very wonderful, the very beautiful Amanda.  I was having coffee with Tony-the-simple-churches-guy when her name came up.  Amanda had a hard year.  Things happened that no one should have to go through, and at times, it was hard for me to be her friend.  I guess it goes back to that self-centered-jerk-thing (on my part, of course).  Any way, Amanda has come through this whole thing with amazing perspective.  But the reality check came in this observance of her—Amanda is back to her old self, but better.  Let me explain:  she’s happy at work.  She draws and writes and plays in the concert band.  She hangs out at the coffee shops meeting people.  Basically, she’s doing what she did before.  But there’s a twist.  Now, she’s content.  She’s hanging out in the my-life-is-just-as-it-should-be place, just where God wants her to be.  And really, how beautiful is that?  It makes me think that perhaps, just perhaps, I’m also right where God wants me to be.

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