The Very Best Charlie Brown

Love and Loss and the God Who Loses Nothing God Loves

The picture featured for this essay is of one Charlie Joe Brown. When he came to live with us fifteen and a half years ago we had no idea the dog he would become. Ironically we did not even realize what we had done when we named him. I just remember saying, “he looks like a Charlie.” That stuck and he lived into his name by channeling the incomparable Charlie Brown and Snoopy depending on the moment. Charlie lived an incredibly good life; as do all of our animal friends. His big heart finally got the better of him and he is no longer curled up in a doggie bed at my feet tonight.

When he was gone today, I felt an intense physical pain and wept as an overwhelming grief washed over me. We’ve had many animals (and still do) and I’ve been present at almost every single one’s death, but Charlie hit harder for some reason. Maybe it is the out of control world or maybe it is because he is one of those anchor points in our lives. Charlie is the last animal who knew my dad. He and our cat Gracie are the only ones left from our move to Hendersonville from our starter home of seventeen and a half years in Nashville. He connected what feels like many lifetimes and events. Maybe he hits harder because of the sheer volume of grief visited upon us as we age. My father, my in-laws, dear friends, and loved ones have passed in recent years and maybe it all just fell down upon me today.

Because Charlie had congestive heart failure, he had slowed down this year. We’ve been carrying him up and down stairs to prevent him from hurting his back or over exerting. He required a lot of care and attention, but those moments spent with him have been precious. In his absence, our full home feels very empty. Charlie was a dog who taught us so many lessons about relationship. He taught us unflinching love. Charlie taught us about personal boundaries and that nails are not to be cut without a fight. He loved a visit to the exterior home office and to lump under the covers. He welcomed cats and dogs into the family with a side-eye to any shenanigans. He was a good dog. If you let him come to you, he might just make you part of his world. Or, he may place you outside his circle of trust if you engaged in too many shenanigans.

As we were driving away from the vet a story came to mind that Amdrew Root has told and written about a question asked of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I went searching for it and found that Root had written it within a book titled The Grace of Dogs. It is also excerpted on the site below if you want to read a larger portion of the story. But the story is about a child asking Bonhoeffer if his beloved German Shepherd, Wolf would be in heaven - would the young boy see his beloved dog again? Root writes that Bonhoeffer was dumbfounded and caught off guard by the boy’s question. The young theologian had a knack for having answers, but this question stumped him at first. Then he reflected as he considered the boys’ grief. This is what Bonhoeffer told him.

Well, we know you loved Mr. Wolf, and we know that God loves you. And we know that God loves all the animals. So, yes, yes, I think you will indeed see Mr. Wolf in heaven, for I believe that God loses nothing that God loves. (Grace)

“God loses nothing that God loves.” Bam! How else can wee see God? I know there are other visions of God, but they all ring hollow and false when put against the God who loses nothing God loves. Bonhoeffer would be labelled a dangerous progressive by our contemporary apologists. After all, their God hates some people and will destroy the world; why would that God care about a dog? Of course, the apologists have a whole human created vision of a God who destroys and hates rather than the revealed God of scripture in Jesus. The God who loses nothing God loves is the God who makes creation new rather than destroyed.

I’m sure some of those I have interacted with in the past week would take issue with this, but I do believe that I’ll see Charlie again. This is not based upon pure feeling, but in my experience of the divine. I believe, like Bonhoeffer, that “God loses nothing that God loves.” Nothing. God definitely loves dogs, and cats, and gerbils. God loves all through God’s very nature. Charlie may have had his rules, but I saw him break them over and over with the other cats and dogs and us.

The truth of what we experience in the God who loves is of overflowing grace and mercy. The God whose essential nature is kenotic love would definitely welcome Charlie into New Creation. But I also feel deeply what Andre Root wrote about an experience of helping his son understand the love of God when they lost a dog.

Of course, reality is always putting our convictions to the test. At a deeply emotional level, whether we are people of faith or not, we all struggle with the grief of absence and wonder where our loved ones go when they leave us. If, in a moment of doubt, you were to press me to answer the question “Do you really believe that Owen will see Kirby again?” I might answer more tentatively. Still, I know in my soul -- like Owen on the floor of the vet’s office ... that the love of a dog is strong enough to last both in this world and in the next.

“No one knows for sure,” I’d tell you. “But I’ve studied this, and I think so. My answer is yes. The grace of God is echoed by the grace of dogs. And grace is eternal.” (Grace)

Here’s the link to Andrew Root’s larger essay:

https://faithandleadership.com/excerpt-the-grace-dogs

But I also include this link to a live performance of music from the soundtrack of A Charlie Brown Christmas. because it has brought me joy tonight. Hug someone you love even if they have a cold nose. Remember that “God loses nothing that God loves” and God loves all.