Praise the Lord for pets
01.10.11
The cats no scruple had their own weekend stuff to do, like extended napping. The fish as likely as not didn't relish a car ride. But the dogs, ever sociable, showed up with hobby at Immanuel Lutheran Church in South Lake Confederation Saturday morning.
"Welcome, whether you have two legs or four legs," began Reverend Susan Burchfield, her clerical collar just discernible above a purple tunic, as she introduced a short service called the Consecration of the Animals.
The pet owners at the service, just over 40 people, added joyous animal noises to the prayer responses as Pastor Burchfield went through a inventorying of praise that began with pets and broadened inclusively as the supplication continued.
"All lizards, snakes and creeping things, approval the Lord," sang Burchfield as she neared the end. "Raccoons and squirrels, paean the Lord."
By then, the humans didn't need to add any animal sounds as, perhaps prompted by images of squirrels, the dogs began to bark.
Faith and pets might seem an unlikely combination, but the meeting place is unconditional devotion, an emotion clearly evident at the church service in 5-year-old Jesse Boots.
Source: The Seattle Times