Recently I blogged \u201cBeauty is in the eyes of the beholder\u201d \u2013 unless that one cannot physically see. Case in point. I took care of Bentley for a few days while my children were out of town. Bentley is their 12-year-old Havanese dog who cannot see. Sometimes I feel like he can, because he navigates himself quite well through familiar territory. But, put him in unchartered locations, he\u2019ll bump into objects, walls or doors. When I took him for walks, he did so well in patches of grass or walking on the street that I accidentally let him bump into a curb or light pole. He didn\u2019t complain. He carried on with his sniffing and searching with his nose. Other than running into obstacles, no one would know he couldn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One day, I took him out to do his business. I saw a woman with two little girls walking their huge labradoodle dog and coming our way. They were having a great time playing together when the dog saw Bentley, and broke free of the little girl holding his leash. He literally attacked poor Bentley. I saw him going after Bentley\u2019s legs and my protective instincts took over as I screamed \u201cGet him off!\u201d Bentley was growling at the monster attacking him and the mom rushed over and grabbed the dog\u2019s leash and pulled him off. I loudly exclaimed \u201cThis little dog is blind!\u201d The woman apologized while the little girls were in shock and tears. And so was I! I was thinking \u201cNot on my watch will Bentley end up not only blind, but three-legged!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s my analogy of this scenario! On one hand, that big dog was like the enemy of our souls, seeking who he could devour, while bringing chaos and torment into our lives. All it took was for that dog\u2019s master to yank him away from Bentley. And, honestly, Bentley, other than growling at his attacker in the middle of the attack, went right back to his sniffing and meandering as though nothing had happened to him. He didn\u2019t act afraid to carry on. And here\u2019s another thing about Bentley. He may not be able to see but he knows love and knows how to give love. He cuddles in close to us. He wants to be near to us. He provides comfort to us \u2013especially when we need to settle down from a day of dealing with the \u201ctormentor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some reading this blog might consider it cruel to keep Bentley around considering his inability to see. Here\u2019s why not. Bentley is not only a companion and friend, but he is also a comfort to the entire family. Sometimes we just need that gentle snuggle from anyone \u2013 human or animal to feel comforted. Bentley is quick to come when called. We talk to him and assure him of our presence. And we love HIS presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forgive me for this far-reaching analogy, but I can\u2019t help but think about the Holy Spirit (The Comforter) and the comfort He brings us. Ten days after Christ\u2019s ascension, this Sunday celebrates Pentecost — the day when the 120 disciples gathered in the Upper Room. The Holy Spirit fell upon them. Everything changed for them. Now they were empowered \u2013 so much so that even Peter and John\u2019s shadow healed those who they passed by. Jesus gave the announcement before He ascended that He had to go away so the Comforter could come. I know this comfort. I live in this comfort. Each day, I\u2019m trying to open my eyes and heart more to the movements of the Holy Spirit, so that I can see God with my physical and spiritual eyes. Even more than that, I hope and pray to have holy courage to be outspokenly grateful about the Lord\u2019s gifts. You can, too! Welcome, Holy Spirit, to guide us, direct us and bring us comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMay Your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to your servant.\u201d Psalm 119:76<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently I blogged \u201cBeauty is in the eyes of the beholder\u201d \u2013 unless that one cannot physically see. Case in point. I took care of Bentley for a few days while my children were out of town. Bentley is their 12-year-old Havanese dog who cannot see. Sometimes I feel like he can, because he navigates…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17062,20669,18503,13475,13474],"tags":[3350,20667,17355,1210,3652,1769,485,3402,3011,20666,1085,20663,777,40,20664,2826,501,20668,20665,8879,5581],"class_list":["post-14327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ascension","category-comforter","category-havanese","category-holy-spirit","category-pentecost","tag-ascension","tag-attacker","tag-blind","tag-blog","tag-chaos","tag-christian","tag-comfort","tag-comforter","tag-companion","tag-cuddles","tag-friend","tag-havanese-dog","tag-holy-spirit","tag-inspiration","tag-navigates","tag-pentecost","tag-presence","tag-psalm-11976","tag-torment","tag-unfailing-love","tag-upper-room"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14329,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14327\/revisions\/14329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}