The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

We brought them home in a snowstorm. They were half wild. At 15 weeks, they were the last dogs for a Scottie breeding kennel to sell, of his 30 puppies bred in 2023. It was obvious that these two brindle boys were not popular with the breeder’s clients.

You almost never see brindle Scotties. Yet it is a valid color for the breed. I won’t ask what happens to most of the ones that don’t sell. Fortunately for us, these two came to our home.

It may have continued snowing outside, but the sun has been shining in our home ever since the boys joined us.

Piper, our 13 year old Scottie lass, had been lonely ever since last Memorial Day, when her buddy, Bernie, passed on to Scottie heaven. I would watch her out in the yard, just looking, as if she were waiting for Bernie to come home. Add to that, my husband is dealing with cancer, and he needed more love and excitement in his life.

It is amazing what a little love from us has done for these dogs. They indicated, by their behavior, that they were only picked up when the breeder gave them their three shot series, because they started out very afraid of being picked up. Now, after lots of love and holding, they know they are safe and that a walk or a treat may be the result of a reaching hand.

The love is pouring back to us ten-fold for what we have given them. Love is the most powerful, and transformative power in the universe. It changes lives, sometimes profoundly.

A while back I read a story that relates to our Scottie puppy’s experience with love, and I feel it needs to be shared with everyone. Though the story is a little older, it is relevant to today. Following is a summary.

Kamal Saleem was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1957. His family taught him Islamic radicalism: hate Christians and Jews. Recruited by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Kamal completed his first mission, smuggling weapons into Israel, at the age of seven. He spent many years after that learning how to shoot weapons such as AK-47s and rockets. He became a powerful warlord and fought Christians and Jews all over the Middle East and Europe. After that, he successfully immigrated to America and began radicalizing Muslims.

In 1985 he was in a serious automobile accident. His world changed as a result of what followed. When he woke up, after being knocked unconscious in the accident, a man was leaning over him saying, “Don’t worry. Everything will be OK.”

Paramedics soon rushed to the scene, and also assured Kamal that he would be all right and cared for. The hospital personnel treated him with kindness and the man who first found him returned to the hospital to check on his recovery.

One day, the man came to the hospital with several others. They told Kamal that they had to get him out of the hospital as soon as possible, because his hospital bill was already $60,000.

It turned out that this man was a medical doctor, and he was a member of a Christian doctor’s organization. Kamal was soon moved to the doctor’s house where the doctor’s wife, a nurse, helped Kamal recover to full health. His hospital bill was paid by the Christian organization, and Kamal was lovingly treated like a part of the family.

This process of love was something Kamal had never felt before. Hate had always been his driving force. Even his Koran promoted killing the infidel. The force of love he felt from this experience, and these people, overwhelmed him. He soon believed that the Christian God had intervened with a miracle and saved him. Kamal said. “There are no miracles in Islam.”

Kamal discovered that the Christian God and the God of Abraham, whom the Muslims worship, are one and the same. He decided that the Muslims needed to learn to see their God was also a loving God. He has since become an ordained Christian minister, and dedicated his life to helping Muslims learn to love Christians and Jews.

Kamal has also worked with the U.S. military, security experts, law-enforcement, and he speaks at colleges, universities, and churches.

This story and our new Scottie boys show us real-world demonstrations of what unconditional love can do for lives. Love is not only powerful, it is transformative.

Each of us have that Divine Love in our hearts. Often that loving power has been buried beneath the daily stress and agony of work and living. But when we take the time to give that love to others, it multiplies for them and for us. Our hearts can fill to the point of pouring love into the world around us.

The more love we pour into life, the better our lives become. These Scottie boys will fill our house with years of love, and we will share that overflowing love with many others.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5