Dead Dog Like Me - Kelley Barton

I have always loved dogs as part of our family. I have had our fur friends pass away and felt the pain of losing the one living thing in my world that truly exhibits unconditional love.

So the phrase “Dead Dog like me” in Sunday’s message jumped out at me.

Here’s the quick back story. David and Jonathan became close friends after David kills the giant, Goliath. Jonathan dies in battle. King Saul (Jonathan’s Dad) commits suicide. David becomes King.

David asks if there are any descendants of Saul that David can show kindness towards, for Jonathan’s sake. David learns about Jonathan’s remaining son (Mephibosheth, M for short), who is disabled, lame in both legs. David summons M, pledges to restore the family land to M. Here is what happens next.

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
2 Samuel 9:8 NIV

Here is another translation of the same verse.

Shuffling and stammering, not looking him in the eye, Mephibosheth said, “Who am I that you pay attention to a stray dog like me?”
2 Samuel 9:8 MSG

But it strikes me to the core to think of someone who is so low in their self-esteem or circumstances in life that they would consider their existence to be like that of a dead or stray dog. Is that how the unhoused person I pass in my neighborhood feels? Or how the undocumented worker, now hunted by ICE?

What about those that feel this deep inside but are good at covering it up.  A co-worker, your kid’s best friend, an in-law or member of your pickle ball team?

We don’t always know how people feel in their core about themselves, but I think there is something we can do to proactivity battle this.

Look them in the eye. In The Message version says M will not look David in the eye.

When we interact with people in various places, lets look up from our phones and look them in the eye. Smile. Say Hello. Maybe “how are you” isn’t fitting, because it implies we want to really know how a stranger is, when in truth we don’t have the time to find out. A simple and warm Hello might be welcome. It can communicate “I see you. I value you as a human being”.

If we all did that often, might we possibly make a difference in a way we will never know? It might make a few feel less like a “Dead or stray dog” and more like a valued human.