togetherness

I was driving home today, tired, mentally drained and yearning to be home. Home where my items of rest, love, and contentment reside. I pulled up to a stoplight and looked out my window at a homeless man. This is no strange sight in Dayton, especially downtown, but it struck me this time. He was obviously homeless, dirty clothing, unkempt hair and all possessions in a shopping cart he was pushing. Oddly enough this doesnt denote homelessness in my neighborhood, but you learn to distinguish the homeless from the lazy.
There, as he pushed his home down the street, I saw he was not alone. A dog, also obviously homeless, was walking beside him. The dog fit the same description as the man, minus the cart of items, but no less homeless. I would say it is the beaten look upon their faces that told me.
They walked together. I could see that this was not a new thing. They had traveled together. The dog did not stray from him. It had no collar, it had no leash, but it walked with him as if it did. They stayed together, crossed the street and waited for the lights. The dog did not run from him, or investigate things any regular dog would, he stayed with his companion.
Both were hungry, it could be see with their weight and skin, they had no shelter, it could be seen with their clothing and hair; however they had each other. I followed them with my eyes as they made their way to nowhere, probability the same every day. The man looked at the dog, not concerned he wasnt there, but paying attention to him. He took for granted that the dog was there.
A man that probably took nothing for granted trusted that his dog was there. His dog. Had they started this life together? I doubt it, it didnt seem the way of their relationship. They had found one another.
As we go through life we all search for someone, something to be with. To share our time, experiences with. How many times had he been turned away because the dog was unwelcome? At the shelter, food bank, or did the dog wait patiently outside for the man to bring his share to him. How many times did the dog almost get picked up by a person driving by, offering him a home, comfort, food, the shelter?
Had they gambled their lives together out of necessity, and it became something more. Or were they searching for that something more, and cast themselves together, through diversity, for love. Did the man have a name for the dog, did he call him friend or son, as I do my dogs.
What do we do to find the others of our lives? What is the nature of faithfulness? Do we give up the things that are important to keep them, or turn on them at the first sign of adversity, smaller things then food and shelter. He needs to understand that something are necessary, or Ill find someone who will.
Today as I watched them disappear into an ally together and my light turned green, I think I saw just a little bit of true faithfulness, true love and what it means.