This is Buster, the third of three dogs my wife has had to find homes for. A dear friend of hers is in a care facility and can no longer take care of his animals. Buster came to live with us for a few days. We put the other two in travel crates earlier this week so Linda could drive them to the airport in Detroit for a flight to the man’s family members. These extra tasks have put great stress on her which she has handled with grace.

My fall reading project in pastoral care continues. Now I am in the thick of John Patton’s Pastoral Care: An Essential Guide and John McNeill’s classic A History of the Cure of Souls. With the end if the praise service, my responsibilities in worship and preaching are minimal. One way I can help my congregation now is pastoral care. I want to do better in this art, and I am hungry to know more.

In Latin, care of animals and care of souls differ by only a couple of letters. Cura Animalium et Cura Animarum.