A Boy, A Dog and a Risk by Catherine Weiskopf

One night upon leaving Ben’s soccer game at 9:30, we headed home through Lewisville, Texas. Driving down the dark road my two children spotted a medium sized dog trotting along the sidewalk that ran beside the four lane road.

“Mom, turn around,” Ben said.

To be honest I was exhausted and just wanted to go home and sleep, but felt the tug this dog had on my son’s heart. I turned the car around.

There up ahead, still trotting along the busy road, was the dog looking like a skeleton. My son wanted me to pull up beside it as he called to it. But the dog wasn’t interested.

We dialed animal control and they had closed. The instructions on the line indicated I could call the police if it was “an animal emergency.” They then listed the events that qualified for an emergency. A stray dog was not one of them.

My son desperately wanted to take the dog home but the list of “why nots” screamed in my head.

He could be rabid.

He could bite us.

If we take him home, he could hurt our other dogs.

My son was worried about none of it. Part of it was the invincibility of youth, but the other part was having a big heart.

Ben was mad at me for not taking the risk and at one point wondered out loud what Jesus would do in this situation.

I’m not saying I should have opened my car door and tried to grab an unknown dog at 10:00 at night, but I am saying I felt a huge tug on my heart to take more risk when helping others. Maybe in playing it too safe all the time I was risking the greatest thing of all: the hearts, minds and talents of my children spent for God.

It reminded me of the story of the business man who entrusted his servants with his wealth in Matthew 25:15-30. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. . .

Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”

His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant!” 

God is our master, providing us with time and talents, and expecting some return on his investment. Reading the Bible I’ve never noticed parables expounding the virtues of playing it safe. God, in fact, expects us to live all out. For me that has including recently driving fourteen hours north to see relatives even when I’m tired and feel leery of driving so far alone; taking time to listen to a friend even when I have a million things to do, and doing anything it takes not to be called a wicked lazy servant someday at the pearly gates. It also calls me to think more carefully about opening my life to the risk of an adventuresome life and yes, the next time we saw a stray dog we did bring him home.