Contrast

Yesterday, I was grocery shopping when my husband pointed out that another shopper had brought their dog into the store. I spotted the small, scraggly, canine perched in a cart nearby, trying to jump to freedom, unharnessed, unvested, and clearly not a service animal. Though the sign on the entrance stated that non-service animals are not permitted in the store, the employees stood by helpless, as they are "not allowed to say anything."

Today, I was parking in a lot shared by several businesses, toward the center of the rather large lot, when my children noticed that there was an unsupervised child sleeping in the car next to ours. He looked to be around three and was fast asleep in his booster seat. There was no sign of a parent, or guardian anywhere in sight. Since I didn't have a cell phone, I entered the business that I'd come for and told the clerk. She called her manager and they decided to page the owner of the vehicle. The woman that I'd seen browsing the used books near the front of the store, on her cell phone responded to the call, and left.

I could not help but notice the irony of those two scenarios that played out just a day apart and just a few miles from each other. What is wrong with our culture when our children are of less value and priority than our pets? And, why is there no regard for rules that protect the health of others? It is a sad commentary on the spiritual health of our nation. It grieves my heart.

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." 2 Timothy 3:1-5