Animal Lessons

Upon returning this morning from a brief getaway, I was heartened to learn from staff and the local press that the Animal Blessing service this past Sunday was powerful and of great meaning to those involved. Amen!

Even though I did not spend the long weekend in Milton, my time away from church was not absent of canine companions. In fact, on Saturday I attended the annual Dog Show in Essex, CT. Skirting the glorious shoreline on a crisp, sun-drenched New England day, local residents gathered from surrounding communities to see and be seen with their leashed friends. Although the organizers offered best of show prizes in a variety of categories for the more competitively minded, most participants seemed to ultimately appreciate the invitation to simply share in doggy fellowship. Young children adoringly approached owners with a proposition too cute to refuse: ‘May I pet your dog?’ Between the sniffing, rolling and digging – of canine and human alike! – neighbors bonded and fresh faces were welcomed into the community. In effect, it was the love of individuals for their animals that opened the door to a greater love amongst such individuals themselves. 

The linguistic designation ‘animal’ derives from the Latin animale, signaling a ‘living being.’ It is a short leap from animale to animus: breath, soul. Beneath their furry exteriors, deep within their panting, slobbering, smiling selves, the dogs in Essex breathed new life into the community. Their effusive personalities, sense of companionship and yearning for intimacy seemed to teach us all about how to live – about what it means to be a ‘living being.’ As Sufi mystic Ibn ‘Arabi once observed: “Nature is in reality nothing other than the Breath of Compassion.” Despite significant linguistic barriers and noticeably different ways (and, at times, heights) of looking at the world, these dogs and humans seemed to share a common soul. As one woman stated, nestling her fuzzy Shih Tzu into the cave of her neck: “He’s my world.”  

It is fitting that we should acknowledge the many ways in which our animals bless us before offering them blessings in return.

That is not to say, of course, that the animal world displays a romanticized harmony. For every dog tenderly playing in Essex, another one was growling or defending her territory. Nature comprises both constructive and destructive potencies. And I want to believe that the blessings offered this past Sunday incorporated this holy observation as well.

In the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the scripture of the Sikhs, we read: “Naked we come, and naked we go; in between, we put on a show.” Animals may open our eyes and hearts to this truth most poignantly. After all, three days out I can hardly remember which dog won first or second prize at the Dog Show in Essex – what I do vividly recall is the difference those canine consorts made in the lives of others.  

Reflection for the week: May we bless those who have 'shown' us blessing.