I was a stranger...

He was my lion hearted chicken livered guardian, chewer of bumpers, chaser of cars and coyotes. Monday morning with my hand on his head and his eyes on my face, he died and my heart broke. He came to us a stranger, abused in his early life, a stray living in the high barn who circled around us in ever narrowing circles until he became family. Loyalty and love were given freely on his part but always on his terms. Children loved him and they were the only ones he allowed to approach him easily. Cameras and men in baseball hats terrified him and his deep loud bark echoed a remembered fear that we never understood. On those nights when my busy brain kept me from sleeping, Barney and I would sit side by side, leaning on each other, on the top step of the front porch listening to the night sounds. He kept fearless guard over us in the night chasing coyotes and bears away, running and barking through our farm often waking us. And now I weep as I drive into our yard and there is no big yellow dog rising to meet me. Michael has lost his morning walking companion and he and Rufus are lonely. Mama misses his daily visits to her. He came so often that a path is worn through the pasture next to her house. How did this stray dog, a bundle of contradiction and command, become so important to me? To mama? To Michael?
My friend Janet helped me yesterday by giving me an image, a Biblical connection that I had not made. For Janet, Barney was the stranger we took in, a complicated not easy to love stranger who became the symbol of Sabbath Rest Farm, a safe place to rest. Our loving Barney became a testament to our willingness to love strangers, others who show up needing something or someone. Young men and women living through in-between times who need work and some community show up to bale hay, build fences, ride horses and do farm chores. Pastors and church staff come for respite care. Families come and their children run free. Neighbors walk over bringing friends and our circle widens once again.
I was a stranger, Jesus said, and you took me in. Heartbreak, frustration, joy, laughter, steadfast love… all are gifts from the strangers who are welcome here at Sabbath Rest Farm and in my heart. You will live in my heart Barney as a reminder of God’s gracious arrival in uninvited guests. Thanks be to God for love and loss, life and death, and strangers who become family.