Shadow and the fawn

My brother Tom's dog is a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Shadow. Ridgebacks are a dog breed that began in southern Africa. They were used to hunt lions. For anyone who has met a Ridgeback this is difficult to imagine. They're big and scary looking but they're some of the sweetest dogs I have ever met. Tom had an interesting experience with Shadow yesterday. Rather than describe it myself, I'll include the email he sent me here. I'm also adding the photos and the video clip he sent me. He told me today that this whole enounter lasted about half and hour.

From Tom: Shadow's new friend
I took my fierce lion hunting dog down to a big field near the college to run around and he found a new friend to play with, a tiny fawn that was too young to know any better. They had a good time, sniffing each other, running around, sometimes the dog would chase the fawn, sometimes the fawn would chase the dog. At one point, the dog laid down and fawn came over and started licking him, so I don't think the fawn was all that intimidated by the dog. I let them play for a while, until I noticed the fawn's parents were just inside the woods line, freaking out, so I leashed the dog and we left. Last I saw of the fawn it was standing alone where we left it. Now I know what the dog would do if he ever caught any prey.

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time and I wanted to put it up here so that other people could enjoy it!

Too much bad news

In the last few days I have had a constant stream of nothing but bad news. Two guys I know have had surgery and are now in treatment for testicular cancer. Another friend is facing the death of one person who was very close to her and the very serious illness of another. And today I heard that a friend of another friend was in a devastating car crash and will be paralyzed from the neck down.

I am reeling from all this. It is other people's bad news, I know. None of it is about me as they say. Still, it just seems as if disaster is dropping in from every direction and it is difficult to think about anything else. I suppose part of this feeling comes from not being able to do anything but just absorb this information. To insert myself in some possibly helpful way would just be intrusive.

I keep trying to find the message or lesson in all this so that God will see that we get it and won't want to test us further. I have had that thought before and realized then as now that it is mostly superstition masquerading as faith. Still, it is difficult to do nothing. I wish I could think of something that might help just a little.