  Spiritual
This week: What Our Pets Can Teach Us Edited by: Sophy  
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Hi, I'm Sophy ~ your editor for this edition of the Spiritual Newsletter.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, author of the book Finding Your Religion, compares humanity's innate need for spiritual searching to climbing a mountain. In his view, we are all endeavoring to climb the same figurative mountain in our search for the divine, we just may take different ways to get there. In other words, there is one "God," but many paths. I honor whatever path or paths you have chosen to climb that mountain in your quest for the Sacred.  |
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What Our Pets Can Teach Us
Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am!
Those of us with pets know how much they enhance our lives, and how we could not imagine life without them. Their companionship, comfort, and friendship are universally experienced and appreciated by anyone who has a pet, as are the lessons they teach us. Listen to what some random people at a park said about their pets in this Soulpancake video:
What would you have said if you were in a video like this, with you pet? Better yet, what might you WRITE about your pet, and what you have learned from him/her? I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to reply to this as a comment - OR, even better, create a static item with your thoughts and share it with me for next month! 
I have had a pet of some sort since the day I was born. Coco, a beautiful Siamese cat, was a member of our family when I was born, as was our dog Lady, a Pomeranian. There are pictures of me with both of them as a baby and toddler, which are among my favorite memories. We had a number of Siamese cats growing up, including (after Coco) Lucy, Charlie Brown (brother and sister), Sammy, and Sassi. Most of them lived happy, long lives (often to the age of 17), and to this day I am drawn to the personality of Siamese cats. What did they teach me? Over the years my cats have taught me the importance of remaining aloof and not getting drawn into the drama, leaving the room when things get too intense, and how sometimes all you need is a rub under the chin and a nice lap to relax in after a long day.
As a young child in elementary school, the first pet of my very own, purchased with birthday money, was Junior Barnes, a lovely little hamster. He (we think he was a he, we never knew for sure) lived a short life (not due to the cats, in case you wondered), and finding him dying in his cage one morning before school taught me my first lesson about loss and grief and the limited number of our days.
We also had dogs. In addition to Lady, there was Dora, Little Dog, Sunshine, and Jake. All were mixed breeds except Sunshine, my first "dog of my own." She was a beautiful Golden Retriever given to me by friends who had a litter of puppies. I was 14 at the time, and I took my responsibility of being her main caretaker very seriously. Not only did I walk her regularly, take her to the park for fetch, feed and clean up after her, I also took her to what was then called an "Obedience Class" at a nearby park, where she graduated with high honors! All of our dogs also were long-lived, and each taught me about responsibility and friendship.
There was a brief period of time where I was pet-less - in college I lived at home and commuted, so was still able to enjoy a home with animals. But when I was in grad school we could not have pets in the dorm. So for about 4 years I did not have a warm little canine or feline body to keep me company. But I met Mr. Sophy during that time, and he was a good substitute.  As soon as we graduated and moved to our first home together, we got a kitten (Dugan - yes, a Siamese) and Sheba, a 9 month old Husky/Shepard mix. Kayla and Daisy (both yellow labs) have since followed, and we have yet to get another cat since Dugan died many years ago. But after the first year of our marriage, there has not been a moment in our married lives that we have been without a pet, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Probably the best gift I have received from them, besides the obvious of unconditional love, is the lesson about living in the moment, being present in this very moment, and not worrying about tomorrow or regretting yesterday. Our current dog, Daisy, teaches me this lesson over and over again, every day. She is so happy to just BE, and to just be with US. She is easy going, friendly, occasionally makes mistakes but shakes them off, and is just about the sweetest soul I've ever met. She teaches me about joy, and making the best of every situation.
What about you? How have your pets blessed your lives?
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Below you'll find some spiritual offerings from other WDC members. Please let the folks know if you read their piece by leaving a thoughtful comment or review.
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Here is a response to my last newsletter "Spiritual Newsletter (February 5, 2014)" about "Changing the Story" - only one comment, but such a nice one!
From Quick-Quill 
Sophie, Please turn this into a static! It's one of the most amazing NL I've read. I was glued to every word. Your experience gave the movie, I've yet to have time to see, a new perspective. Now when I go I'll have a different view of Pamela. I too visited the Park. My sister was born the year it opened. My father had a small job at Universal Studios when the Munsters were being filmed. That opened my eyes to a new world. Instead of the rooms being Up and Down, they were side by side. The stairs just disappeared to a landing and metal steps down. When I finally saw an episode the things I looked at weren't scary because I knew what they really were. Perspective, you did an awesome job with this NL. I'm saving it.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Hopefully you will still see the movie and I didn't ruin it for you!  It is all about perspective, isn't it?
Please keep your comments and suggestions coming! Until next time! Sophy |
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Spiritual: March 05, 2014 Issue [#6194]
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