Few things move Belle the basset hound. She moves when we eat dinner, because she wants to smell our food. And she moves when the front door opens, because she wants to smell the UPS man. Beyond that, though, Belle mostly stays put, and never ventures far from her pillow. In fact, aside from people, food, and people with food, only one other item can move Belle: compassion. Maybe it’s a dog’s sixth sense. Maybe her hound nose can smell a hurt. Whatever the reason, compassion moves Belle.
Several months ago, a friend sat on our couch and spoke about a heartache he was facing. As he talked, he began to cry. Immediately, Belle got up from her pillow and walked toward him, looking at Andy with a “Can’t you see he’s sad? Do something!” expression. She sat by the couch, laid her slobbery chin on the man’s knee, and whined softly.
“I don’t know what happened in your people-world,” she was saying, “but I feel it. I can’t do much about it, unfortunately, since I don’t have thumbs or higher cognitive skills. But I can sit close and cry right along with you.”
Belle cries with the kids, too. Once, when Molly ran in sobbing after a bike crash, Belle leaned against her and cried while I cleaned her scraped knees.
Sweetheart.
Compassion is not my strong suit. I’m more likely to say, “Stop crying,” than, “Let me cry with you.” But not so with Belle. And, thankfully, not so with God.
“I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,” God told Moses. (Exodus 33:19) In other words, “You can’t stop my compassion. I’ll show it to everyone I please.”
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,” David wrote. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:8, 13)
The word for compassion in those verses also means “womb”, as in, a tender affection that you feel all the way down in the pit of your stomach. God looks on our sadness and pain and need, and He feels it. Deeply. But His compassion doesn’t just make Him cry; it makes Him move. God’s tender affection moved Him all the way from the throne to the cross, on our behalf.
God, thank You for Your compassion–how I need it! Thank You that You demonstrate deep affection on whomever You please–including me. May Your mercy toward me motivate me…move me…to have compassion on others. Amen.
Previous Lessons from a Basset Hound:
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
I love all the lessons we learn from dogs!! Sometimes so simple and yet purposeful. (and as I type with the baby on my lap, he’s waving to the picture of Belle and cheering!)