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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAs soon as Mass ended, he said, \u201cit was nice to meet you, but I\u2019ve got to go \u2014 my dog is sick.\u201d I didn\u2019t know it at the time, but John was the ultimate dog lover. That became apparent to me shortly after we had met\u2026. one day after church, John had hurried out the door because he had to take care of his dog. His wife, Barbara, played the organ at church and she came by where we were standing and I said, \u201c so John left you on your own \u2014 he must think the dog is more important than you are.\u201d Barbara said that was a much truer statement than I knew. She told me that John thought that if you\u2019re not happy single, you won\u2019t be happy married \u2014 that happiness comes from dogs, not relationships. We laughed about that occasionally, but the fact is John really did love dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years we had a number of discussions about whether or not dogs go to heaven. These were serious discussions \u2014 it was a very important subject to John. I grew up in Billy Graham country, and I remember that once he was asked if he thought there would be dogs in Heaven. His response was something like, \u201cI think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness. If it takes my dog being there (in Heaven,) I believe he\u2019ll be there.\u201d From what I can tell, the Bible doesn\u2019t address the issue \u2014it neither confirms nor denies dogs in Heaven. Probably the best advice is for us to just love our pets and trust God in everything for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But back to John\u2026. there\u2019s an old saying that in life, it\u2019s not what you know, but who you know that counts. When I first heard that, I thought it was probably true \u2014 if you knew the right people, they could open doors for you and give you a leg up over your competition, etc. But as I\u2019ve grown older but wiser (at least older) I still believe it\u2019s true, but for different reasons. Who you know refers to people that you play golf with, have a beer with, laugh with, cry with, celebrate with you when you\u2019re happy, console you in times of trouble, make you happy when you\u2019re with them \u2014 they\u2019re the people that count \u2014 they\u2019re your friends. John was one of those \u201cwho\u2019s\u201d in our lives. Friends are like the family you choose<\/em> and losing a good friend like John is like losing a family member\u2026. leaving us to grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good that he did and our time together.\u00a0 I never liked the idea of mourning death \u2014 I think it\u2019s much better to celebrate the life of the person gone. So today, on this St. Patrick\u2019s Day, my thoughts are simple \u2014 John will be missed. His family, friends, Shepherd and St. Agnes have lost a dear friend. Go in peace John, you\u2019ve earned your sleep. And as the Irish might say \u2014 until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand. Shortly after we moved to Shepherdstown and had settled on St. Agnes as our church of choice, one Saturday evening we sat down by a distinguished looking gentleman and I asked if this was the \u201csinners pew.\u201d He smiled and … Continue reading
I\u2019ve heard it said that our friends never truly leave us \u2014 there are things that death can\u2019t touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"