Today is Valentine's Day. In our house, that means little gifts and cards, huge hugs from small arms, and loud, smacky kisses. It means Valentine's Day parties at school, with bags full of folded, glittery cards, and Tootsie Pops.
And today, it means loss and tears. Our rat, Monster, has been ill, and today was the day he needed to be put down.
As I pulled the car to the wrong side of the street and told the kids the news, I kept thinking of one of our elder's sermon illustrations a few years ago. He was making the point that people can love anything, even unloveable things, and mentioned his surprise to hear of people keeping and loving rats as pets. I remember this illustration because it seemed so odd to me at the time. Love rats?!?!
I never wanted rats as pets. In fact, I told my students who were in the psych class training rats that I would bring my kids to their Rat Olimpicks event only if no one mentioned that the rats were available for adoption afterward. They all very carefully kept their word, except for one. When the student told Grant that his rat, Monster, could move to our house, even the fact that the student wrote me an apology note later didn't completely make up for the fact that we would now have rodents (because Ben said, "They're social creatures. Shouldn't we take two?") living in our house on purpose. The kids and Ben were sold, though. Monster and George were moving in.
So, over a year later, I'm sitting in the van on the wrong side of the road trying to console my kids on Valentine's Day. And my shock at the elder's sermon illustration is laughable. Of course people can love rats. Why couldn't people? Why wouldn't people? Because love isn't always about the worthiness of the object. Love goes beyond the object to change the one who loves.
And today, it means loss and tears. Our rat, Monster, has been ill, and today was the day he needed to be put down.
As I pulled the car to the wrong side of the street and told the kids the news, I kept thinking of one of our elder's sermon illustrations a few years ago. He was making the point that people can love anything, even unloveable things, and mentioned his surprise to hear of people keeping and loving rats as pets. I remember this illustration because it seemed so odd to me at the time. Love rats?!?!
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So, over a year later, I'm sitting in the van on the wrong side of the road trying to console my kids on Valentine's Day. And my shock at the elder's sermon illustration is laughable. Of course people can love rats. Why couldn't people? Why wouldn't people? Because love isn't always about the worthiness of the object. Love goes beyond the object to change the one who loves.
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