the Worth of Souls

 

          Jaime sent me a photo of her beloved dog.  Unlike Hi-Five, Bonnie is real.  But the photo reminded me of the many “treasures” that become earless, eyeless or in Hi-Five’s case, furless as they are cherished by children.

 

          I have used a quote from the Velveteen Rabbit.  I had shared this thought quite recently with the other members of the Relief Society presidency.

 Skin Horse to Velveteen Rabbit:

    “Generally by the time you’re real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all because once you are real you can’t be ugly except to people who don’t understand”

    And then I read another quote that I found in a notebook I had grabbed:

    “We see outward appearances.  God sees what we can’t –

He sees underneath”

Hi-Five has looked shabbier than this (here).  His fur was never soft.  I don’t know what it is about him that had Jaime (who I had earlier referred to as Jenna) so attached.  She had definitely loved away much of his inside fluff as well as outside.  When she was two or three, Richard had taken her to Build-a-Bear and had her beloved dog restuffed.  We can’t see it from the outside but have faith that there is a heart inside.  Okay.  It’s made of plastic, but it’s there.  We can’t see it.  

We can’t always see what’s underneath.  We don’t always get the worth. 

          Bonnie is real.  She is overweight.  She has slowed down big time within the last six years (well almost six full years since we acquired her).  When she came to us we believed she was only one or two – but it turned out to be more like four or five. 

          We had noticed an infection in her eye on Friday.  Jaime had taken the above picture on Saturday.  We have said countless prayers and put her name on the rolls. On Sunday her eye was looking better.  Pupil was more visible though still higher than should be. We took her to the vets today.  The eye infection was not a result of having been loved too much – it didn’t drop off.  But that is what it reminded me of.

          We don’t always understand her pain.  Overall we can tell she is mostly happy.  Still loves people giving her attention.  Some people don't see what we see.  There are some that just don't understand. We love our dog.  Both dogs.  Hi-Five is not active like Bonnie has been but will be around longer.