This was truly beautiful, what a tribute to a beautiful friend. I am a veterinarian, and I walk this road daily, often multiple times a day with hurting people who want answers. I’d like to leave you with what I tell my sweet people: all of creation declares His glory, and in our pets, often that unconditional love can be felt more tangibly through their lifetimes than in the sunrise or the flowers. He loves us, He loves them and Christ redeems all of creation.
Here is the prayer I send in my sympathy cards. I pray it puts gentle salve on this wound:
Author of Creation, we pause to say “thank you” for your good creatures.
Here was your good creature, O Lord, called to life through your voice and by your own compassionate design.
We thank you for this loved creature, the spaces and the days we shared, enjoying the glad company and the cheerful companionship of this beloved pet.
We made room in our lives
room in our homes
room in our hearts.
We thank you for the right and fond affection for another living thing your hands had made, delighting daily in it’s presence.
Now this season for our shared lives is ended by death. Our hearts are unprepared for this loss and we grieve deeply.
Even so, Lord, we are grateful for the life that was, for the gift of a living thing so easily loved.
We are thankful for the many blessings of knowing this creature and for the lingering imprint of such a cherished presence in our lives. We are grateful for the good memories of sweeter times.
We are grateful, O God for the happiness that was,
even as we mourn the sorrow that is.
Even as we sit in the sorrow of now empty spaces, in our hearts and in our homes...empty spaces that echo our loss.
Now we say our goodbyes.
We know if no sparrow falls beyond the reach of your knowledge, that you also, in this moment, see our sadness at this wounding, your weeping at the world’s brokenness somehow deeper than our own.
Be near us, O God. Be near each of us who must reckon with the sorrow of death and the sting of separation, for what we feel in this loss is due to the brokenness of your creation, and we long for the day of your eternal kingdom and the redemption of all creation.
You are a God who defeated death, who saves from the very pathway to hell. Even in our sorrow we praise you and we long for the sweetness of your eternal victory.
Be with us, O God, in sadness,
in grief
in pain
in simple memories
in healing joy of redemption.
Adapted from Every Moment Holy- by Dr Kaki Nicotre
This was truly beautiful, what a tribute to a beautiful friend. I am a veterinarian, and I walk this road daily, often multiple times a day with hurting people who want answers. I’d like to leave you with what I tell my sweet people: all of creation declares His glory, and in our pets, often that unconditional love can be felt more tangibly through their lifetimes than in the sunrise or the flowers. He loves us, He loves them and Christ redeems all of creation.
Here is the prayer I send in my sympathy cards. I pray it puts gentle salve on this wound:
Author of Creation, we pause to say “thank you” for your good creatures.
Here was your good creature, O Lord, called to life through your voice and by your own compassionate design.
We thank you for this loved creature, the spaces and the days we shared, enjoying the glad company and the cheerful companionship of this beloved pet.
We made room in our lives
room in our homes
room in our hearts.
We thank you for the right and fond affection for another living thing your hands had made, delighting daily in it’s presence.
Now this season for our shared lives is ended by death. Our hearts are unprepared for this loss and we grieve deeply.
Even so, Lord, we are grateful for the life that was, for the gift of a living thing so easily loved.
We are thankful for the many blessings of knowing this creature and for the lingering imprint of such a cherished presence in our lives. We are grateful for the good memories of sweeter times.
We are grateful, O God for the happiness that was,
even as we mourn the sorrow that is.
Even as we sit in the sorrow of now empty spaces, in our hearts and in our homes...empty spaces that echo our loss.
Now we say our goodbyes.
We know if no sparrow falls beyond the reach of your knowledge, that you also, in this moment, see our sadness at this wounding, your weeping at the world’s brokenness somehow deeper than our own.
Be near us, O God. Be near each of us who must reckon with the sorrow of death and the sting of separation, for what we feel in this loss is due to the brokenness of your creation, and we long for the day of your eternal kingdom and the redemption of all creation.
You are a God who defeated death, who saves from the very pathway to hell. Even in our sorrow we praise you and we long for the sweetness of your eternal victory.
Be with us, O God, in sadness,
in grief
in pain
in simple memories
in healing joy of redemption.
Adapted from Every Moment Holy- by Dr Kaki Nicotre
Beautiful words, Khaki. Thanks for helping owners through this transition.
Beautifully written, it really hit home. It’s clear that you were a wonderful owner.
Thanks for the kind words, Maxime.