When I think about my faith, I try to think about the rescue dogs I’ve worked with. I try to remember that even when to feels like I have no agency – when the world moves too fast around me, when time after time I feel out of control – there is still hope. There is still light. There’s the knowledge that God, like a rescue worker, will be there to let me out of my kennel and walk me into a garden where there is beauty and peace and a chance to breath. Eventually, despite all the chaos, pain and confusion, all the things I can’t control, there will be a home for me – a forever home, where I am loved, cherished and cared for, like all the dogs I’ve seen adopted from One Tail at a Time.
Of all the models I’ve seen of faith, of what it means to believe and trust in God, I want my faith to grow in the hopeful, unconditional way of the rescue dog. I want to put my trust in a God who plans a home for all of us, who cares for us, even when we’ve been broken.
This message is excerpted from “The way of the rescue dog” by Abigail Accettura in the November/December 2022 Gather magazine.
Copyright © 2025 Women of the ELCA. Inquiries for permission to reproduce should be directed to [email protected]. If you enjoy this resource, Donate Now.