Grief & Loss
I had my dog put down and I am grieving harder than I expected. I feel ridiculous telling anyone. Is this a real loss?
“A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
Proverbs collects the practical wisdom of Israel, and one of its lines measures a person by how they treat the animals in their care. In an agrarian world where livestock were property and nothing more, that is a striking standard to set. Scripture does not file attachment to a creature you were responsible for under sentimentality. It files it under the marks of a good person.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”
Jesus is preparing his disciples for a hard road, and to convince them of the Father's attention he reaches for the cheapest item in the market: sparrows, sold two for a coin, not one of which falls without God knowing. The argument only works if God actually notices small deaths. Grief over a creature he was paying attention to is not out of proportion.
A path forward
Say plainly to one person that your dog died and it has hit you hard. Naming it removes the second burden of pretending you are fine.
Do one small act of remembrance: a photo somewhere you will see it, a walk on your usual route, the collar kept in a drawer rather than binned.
Thank God in prayer specifically for the years with that animal. Gratitude spoken out loud tends to open grief up rather than tidy it away.
Closing verse
“Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.”
- Psalm 36:6
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