In one of his books, the great preacher and teacher Leslie Weatherhead tells about visiting some friends who had an old dog named Pete. Pete was in sad shape. He tottered about, had a raw spot on his back, and arthritis in his joints. Weatherhead asked his friends, "Why don't you have Pete put to sleep?" "Oh no," they said, "Pete is Mike's dog." Mike was their son who was away at the university. "If we put old Pete to sleep, what would we say when Mike came home and looked for his beloved dog? We couldn't bear to say to him, 'oh, we put him to sleep because he was such a bother and he wasn't worth saving."'

"Not worth saving." That was the label that Weatherhead could hang on old Pete, but not the parents because of their love for Mike and Mike's love for old Pete.

Can't you imagine some…