I like the story that is told about an old dog and a boy. The old dog was named Belker. It had cancer and a veterinarian was preparing to put him to sleep. The owners had brought their four-year-old son Shane to observe the procedure and to say good-bye to Belker. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped away peacefully. Shane seemed to be at peace about the matter. His parents said that it would be nice if dogs lived about as long as humans do. They wondered why animal lives are so much shorter. Little Shane spoke up and said, “I know why. You see, it takes a long time for people to learn how to live a good life, loving everybody and being nice. But dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.” Ah, such wisdom from a child!

It certainly took the Lord a long time to t…