Deena and I leave for a short vacation in Maine in a week. We decided to take Molly with us, so I applied for an emotional support pet certification for her and we got it a short while later along with a harness that service and emotional support dogs, wear. Molly loves wearing things and loves how we tell her how pretty she looks. She has a red, plaid, flannel canine shirt she wears when it gets cold and she likes wearing the new dog harness we received as well. You can tell from her face that it is a matter of pride to her. How bourgeois of her! In this regard, she is like white the horse–also named Mollie–with the sweet tooth, in Orwell’s Animal Farm who loved to be adorned with ribbons. Hamlet did not, in fact, say “Vanity, thy name is woman.” But I’m sometimes tempted to paraphrase that famous comment by thinking “Vanity, thy name is Molly.”
I thought about the day Deena and I first took Molly home. It was a joyous occasion. Out of the eight pups in the litter, Molly was the first to leave the nest. In this photo, you see three of her brothers and sisters saying “Good-bye and good luck” to her.
You cannot see it in the photo, but each of the siblings in Molly’s litter as well as Molly, herself, had a different color collar, width-wise the size of a rubber bracelet a person might wear on their wrist to get into a special event, only large enough, of course, to fit comfortably around a puppy’s neck. The color of the collar on Molly was purple, so her name at the time we adopted her was “Purple Collar.” To the breeder, Molly was just another puppy. But to Deena and I, she represented many future years of happiness and companionship.
Of course, neither Deena nor I wanted a dog named “Purple Collar,” and we agreed that the name “Molly” would be a good name for her. Now, after five years, she responds instantly to “Molly” whenever she hears it. Curiously, she also responds with equal enthusiasm whenever Deena or I say “Hey Siri!” We haven’t quite figured that out yet.
We’ve given Molly a good home, and she wants for nothing. She has many canine friends in our neighborhood and she has even more people who love her. We all occasionally see stray dogs in the countryside. Sometimes they appear hungry, hurt or unwell. But Deena and I have taken Molly out of nature, made sure her vaccines are all current, given her a quality diet and more than a little loving. She loves and lives life to the fullest and in that way sets an example for both Deena and me. Watching her live for the moment is also inspirational to me, personally.
The Bible teaches us in Ephesians 1:5, Revelation 2:17 and op.cit. that God likewise adopted His children out of nature, and gave them a new name that He might lavish love on them and care for them as well, even as we do to Molly. We do everything possible for Molly to be sure she has a fruitful, abundant life (John 10:10.).
Caring for God’s creatures and the ecosystem He has provided us with is most rewarding and a constant reminder of God’s love for us.