Pet Blessing Sermon

John 13:34-35 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Sermon
Since Pastor Debra has been incorporating the amazing work and creativity of Fred Rogers from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood into her sermons, she asked me to also think about Mr. Rogers as I prepared to speak. When I think of Mr. Rogers and pets, there are several things that come to mind:

Koko the gorilla – 800 pound gorilla who learned 2,000 words in ASL during her lifetime. When Mr. Rogers went to visit Koko, we learned that she also watched his show, because the first thing she did when he came into her compound was to take off his shoes!

Mr. Rogers was always encouraging kids to enjoy make believe – even to the silly extent of having a gorilla as a pet. But as a practicing vegetarian, he didn’t push his own lifestyle, but had a deep desire to empathize and care for the animal kingdom.

I watched an old Mr. Rogers show last weekend where he talked about responsibility related to having a pet. He described responsibility as the ability to answer to someone else’s needs – and he sang a song called “I’m taking care of you.” And, of course, he talked about how our relationship with animals is good practice for our relationships with humans – answering to others’ needs, taking care of those we love, and being gentle with others even when we feel sad or angry.

Pets are one of the fastest growing industries in America. In fact, being a pet in an American home is a really good gig! We love our dogs, cats, turtles, fish, rabbits, birds, ferrets . . .

In a recent poll, 95% of pet owners said their animal is a member of the family. We buy them birthday gifts and sweaters/ties/Halloween costumes and treats. But it’s a 2-way street because some solid research also says people with pets have lower blood pressure, heart rate and heart-disease risk than those who don’t.

Mental health is also a factor – Gilligan is wearing his special therapy dog vest today because he wants to show off and because I can use him as an example of a growing number of animals who go through extensive training to become therapy dogs who help others calm stress, fear and anxiety in different settings. Every major children’s hospital in America now has some type of therapy animal program.

There have been interesting studies - in one, a group of stressed out adults were asked to pet a rabbit, a turtle, or a stuffed animal. For those who pet the stuffed animal – no effect. But petting a living creature, whether hard shelled or furry, lessened their anxiety (even if they didn’t like animals).

In another study, a group of elderly people were each given 5 not so cuddly crickets to care for. Depression lessened in a month was attributed to the act of caring for another living creature (remember Mr. Rogers – answering to another’s needs?).

One of the most studied therapy animals is the horse. Horses have been used in equine therapy in Europe since 1860. Adults and children with physical and mental health issues have made amazing strides while helping to groom or feed or walk or ride a horse.

Here we are today having a pet blessing service – because we recognize the significance of these animals in our lives and our homes and our relationships. I believe with all my heart that at the center of these pets is a wonderful thing called LOVE. As a psychologist who has studied human beings for years, I know that at our core, we want to belong and we want to be loved!

Pets are one of the closest things we might ever get to true unconditional love – but like Mr. Rogers, I believe these pets of ours are intended as practice for our relationship with humans. John 13 says love one another. People will identify you as someone special when you love one another.

Over 50 years ago, a sociology professor at John’s Hopkins University assigned his class the project of interviewing 200 inner city youth in the slums of Baltimore. Through these interviews, he asked his students to predict the future of these youth. His class predicted 90% of the youth they interviewed would serve time in prison.

25 years later, the same professor assigned a new group of students to track down the original set of inner city youth. 180/200 of them were located, and only four had spent time in prison.

What could have gone so wrong with prediction and so right with their lives? The sociology students used data and sociological trends to make their prediction. What they didn’t factor in was the majority of the inner city youth mentioned the strong influence of a teacher they all had in common.

So the university students tracked down 80 year old Sheila O’Rourke in a nursing home. She was confused by their questions. She said, “All I ever did was love them.”

Imperfect human love blasted a bunch of statistics and sociological principles out the door. Because LOVE – whether from pets or people – LOVE is powerful.

May I encourage you today to allow yourself to love and be loved? That thought might make some of you uncomfortable, but I’d like to remind you that in the English language, we use the same word for romance (I love him!) as we do for food (I love ice cream!). So there’s a wide spectrum to work with when we talk about love.

We gather in this community and we read scripture that says God loves us. In fact, I believe in that God Pastor Debra described via Mr. Rogers last week – God the Appreciator. That God is absolutely crazy about you and loves you just the way you are! And what does God ask of us? LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Loving one another is a choice to journey with each other in our joys and our fears and our dreams. Loving one another is gathering together in community and in small groups and, through love, encouraging joys and dreams to grow beyond what we ever imagined.

Story of Larry Walters
Let me tell you the story of Larry Walters. He’s a truck driver. Thirty-three years old. He’s sitting in his lawn chair in his backyard, wishing he could fly. For as long as he could remember, he wanted to go UP. To be able to just rise right up in the air and see for a long way. The time, money, education and opportunity to be a pilot were not his. Hang gliding was too dangerous and expensive. So he spent a lot of summer afternoons sitting in his backyard in his ordinary old aluminum lawn chair – the kind with the webbing and rivets. Just like the one in your backyard.

The next chapter in the story is carried by the newspapers and television. There’s old Larry Walters up in the air over Los Angeles. Flying at last. Really getting up there! Still sitting in his aluminum lawn chair, but it’s hooked on to 44 helium-filled surplus weather balloons. Larry has a parachute on, a CB radio, a six-pack of beer, some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a BB gun to pop some of the balloons when he’s ready to come down. And instead of being just a couple of hundred feet over his neighborhood, he shot up 11,000 feet, right through the approach corridor to the Los Angeles International Airport.

Walters is a taciturn man. When asked by the press why he did it, he said: “you can’t just sit there.” When asked if he was scared, he answered: “Wonderfully so.” When asked if he would do it again, he said: “Nope.” And when asked if he was glad he did it, he grinned from ear to ear and said: “Oh yes!”

The human race sits in its chair. On the one hand is the message that says there’s nothing left to do. And the Larry Walters of the earth are busy tying balloons to their chairs, directed by dreams and imagination to do their thing.

The human race sits in its chair. On the one hand is the message that the human situation is hopeless. And the Larry Walters of the earth soar upward knowing anything is possible, sending back the message from 11,000 feet: “I did it. I really did it. I’m FLYING!”

It’s the spirit here that counts. The time may be long, the vehicle may be strange or unexpected. But if the dream is held close to the heart, and imagination is applied to what there is close at hand, everything is still possible. (Fulghum, 1986)

Love one another – and together we fly . . .

© Dr. Carole Patrick, 2018