This family I've seen for years walking their dogs. First it was the elderly man and his wife walking a beautifully-kept, elderly, large dog. They could often be seen urging a reluctant-to-move the fluffy white dog from the spot where he'd stopped in the middle of the road. Then sometime in the last couple of years the dog disappeared from these walks and I haven't seen the elderly man in ages either. Now most often I see the elderly woman and their son walking a younger, more energetic dog.
What caught my attention this day was that when I first saw them they'd stopped to greet the dog on the other side of that wall (you can just see his/her head on the right, just out of the shadow). This is the most extroverted dog in my neighbourhood. It is very common to see someone leaning over this wall and chatting to the dog, or to walk past and see the dog with his/her nose poking out looking for people to talk to. Granted there is plenty of foot traffic. A kindergarten is about 20m down the road and a little further away a swimming school and a primary school. But still . . .
When I come face to face with this couple I exchange greetings. But they're always pushing onwards, walking their dog. It doesn't take much to imagine that their days revolve around their dog and taking that walk.
There are a lot of lonely people in Japan. I'm glad this family has each other, and their dog. But my heart aches for those who have no one. I long that they would know Jesus and have a church family to lean on.
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