Compassion for the Dogs

Academgorodok is full of animal lovers. The birds are well cared for by the babushkas (I am reminded almost every morning after breakfast that the left overs go to the “pteechkey” which are dropped for them from our second-story window). (Notice the picture I snuck of a babushka in a neighboring apartment building feeding her beloved birds!) It is quite often that I see someone walking their dog (it is hard for me to think of all these pets living in small apartments, having grown up on a ranch). Most of these dog owners must not get Bob Barker's “Price is Right” game show in Russian – other wise they would have their pets spayed or neutered. I have frequently been saddened by the sight of stray dogs. Some roam around the apartments begging for food with their sad eyes. Others must be more desperate as they rummage through trash. The saddest one is one I've seen was left outside a park-with the leash still on him. I don't know what happened to his owner but that sad dog returns to that place the same time every morning to look for his owner. I have never been a huge pet lover, but my heart-stings are pulled every time I notice one of these dogs.

Today, God has impressed upon my heart that these dogs aren't the only ones who are lost. They are not the only ones searching for food or belonging. Everyday I pass by many people without noticing their desperate, lost state. On the contrary, I often find myself considering them as strangers, foreign, different. Something seems to be very wrong with my perspective. How does Christ see these people? As His creation, who He wants to make His children and He sent His Son to die for. He is pursuing them all the while they roam around lost, without belonging, searching for satisfaction. He has offered them all the only Bread of Life (John 6:35-40).

Are you aware of the lost, starving, and lonely people around you? Or is your compassion “for the dogs”?