A little lengthy but a powerful post well worth reading. Something I will plan to re-read regularly.
Nov 20 – Healing Power of Forgiveness
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Nov 8 – There Will Be Dogs in My Future
if we are lucky
a dog will give us their smile
and our hearts will melt
Yesterday, I listed the many lost companion animals of my past; most of them were dogs, dearly beloved dogs.
A good friend is a part-time palm reader. They recently read my palms and saw two very clear signs. First, there would be big dogs in my future and second, there would be small dogs. We both laughed.
I’m writing this on a very early Wednesday morning. In a couple of hours, I will be visiting the Stray Rescue of STL facility to walk dogs for the morning. It’s something I look forward to every week. One at a time, I will walk mixed breed dogs that have been abandoned and then rescued for hopeful re-homing.
Last Wednesday, I walked Goten, Supreme, Fury, Luck of the Irish and Pepto. Not sure who I will walk today. I’m always hopeful at least one of last week’s dogs will have been adopted or fostered in the meantime.
Here’s wishing you a day filled with joy and, if you’re lucky like me, a day that includes the love of a dog.
Oct 28 – Fighting Societal Affective Disorder
are you feeling SAD?
something might be wrong for you
check out your beliefs
I’m a huge fan of Rabbi Rami Shapiro and have a number of his books on addiction, religion, and social issues. Rabbi Rami also has a regular column in the Spirituality & Health ezine. See this site for his latest column: http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/fighting-societal-affective-disorder
Below are highlights from the article that most spoke to me. I highly encourage you, dear reader, to check out the full article.
Fighting Societal Affective Disorder
After a conversation with a seasonal affective disorder expert, Rabbi Rami ponders the affliction of societal affective disorder.
Reading Defeating SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder): A Guide to Health and Happiness through All Seasons (by) author Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal, I was struck with the notion that Western civilization may be going through its own version of SAD: not seasonal affective disorder, but societal affective disorder.
SAD is a “condition of regular depressions that occur in the fall and winter and typically remit in the spring and summer.” Among the common symptoms of seasonal affective disorder are a slowing down of thinking and action, sadness, increased anxiety, increased appetite, cravings for sweets and starches, greater need for sleep, and less interest in sex.
As I look at societal affective disorder, the symptoms are similar: lack of mental clarity and increase in irrationality; increase in fear, anger, hatred, and violence; increased appetite for conspiracy theories; scapegoating and othering of marginalized communities; cravings for empty rhetoric, spectacle, and bread and circuses; greater need for mind-numbing info-tainment; and less interest in sex accompanied by a rising obsession with homophobia, toxic masculinity, and misogyny….
(W)hy are so many people afraid of and violent toward the LGBTQ+ community? Because they believe the very existence of such people violates the will of God or laws of Nature.
Why do so many people hate Jews? Because they believe Jews are part of a millennia-old cabal that secretly runs the world to the detriment of [fill in your favorite racial, ethnic, or religious group].
Why do so many white people want to erase African-American history? Because they believe that the truth might lead to justice for Black people at the expense of white people.
If I’m right about this, one way to cure America of societal affective disorder is to examine the health of our beliefs. But be careful: Don’t assume that liberals’ beliefs are healthy, and conservatives’ beliefs are unhealthy. … We need another set of criteria when judging our beliefs. Let me suggest this preliminary list:
If your beliefs promote the thriving of all people regardless of race, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc., they are probably healthy. If they don’t, they are probably unhealthy.
If your beliefs call you to acts of justice and compassion to serve the wellbeing of person and planet, they are probably healthy. If your beliefs make you anxious, angry, fearful, violent, and boorish, they are probably unhealthy.
If your beliefs are healthy, share them. If your beliefs are unhealthy, change them. In this way, we might do something to defeat the societal affective disorder that is threatening our democracy.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an award-winning author, essayist, poet, and teacher.
Oct 22 – Dr. Ilia Delio, OSF
an author to read
a voice of reason and love
Sister Delio
Today is a good day to learn more about Ilia Delio. Check out the references below.
“God Is the Source of Our Life
When we search long and hard enough to know the source of our own lives and the source of life at the heart of creation, we discover that the whole creation is pregnant with God. To see, to contemplate and to be transformed so as to become what we love marks the path of Franciscan prayer. The problem today is that we love many things—our freedom, independence, financial wealth, status, power and whatever else our culture tells us will make us happy; thus, there is little room within us to fully embrace God. God, in a sense, has to push through all the things that clutter our lives in order to dwell within us. Franciscan prayer calls us back to poverty, penance, conversion and a heart full of mercy, values and attitudes that are counter-cultural but life-giving. Only when we acknowledge our need for God can we begin to find God. Prayer begins in the poverty of the desert and is the cry of the poor person who is far from home and seeks the way to the source of life.
—from the book Franciscan Prayer by Ilia Delio, OSF” @ http://www.franciscanmedia.org/minute-meditations/god-is-the-source-of-our-life
shop.franciscanmedia.org/products/franciscan-prayer
“Masterfully written and intensely enlightening, Franciscan Prayer could very well be considered the essential handbook for all those seeking to pray and live the Franciscan way. With exquisite execution, Franciscan theologian Ilia Delio clearly outlines what it means to pray as a Franciscan. Through her experience as a discalced Carmelite nun and then her transformation into Franciscan scholar, Sister Delio brings to light the “contemplative,” “cosmic” and “evangelizing” aspects of Franciscan prayer.”
Bio
“Ilia Delio is a Franciscan Sister of Washington, D.C. and holds the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University. A native of Newark, N.J., she earned doctorates in pharmacology from Rutgers University-School of Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences and in Historical theology from Fordham University, N.Y. She is the recipient of a Templeton Course in Science and Religion award and the author of twenty-two books, including The Unbearable Wholeness of Being, which won the 2014 Silver Nautilus Award and a Catholic Press Association Book Award. Other books include Care for Creation (Catholic Press Book Award 2010), The Emergent Christ (Catholic Press Book Award 2013) and Making All Things New : Catholicity, Cosmology and Consciousness nominated for the 2018 Grawemeyer award. Her books have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Portugeuse, Polish and German. In 2015, she became general editor of a new book series by Orbis Books called “Catholicity in an Evolving Universe” of which there are currently ten books scheduled for publication. She lectures nationally and internationally on topics including evolution, artificial intelligence, consciousness, culture and religion.
Dr. Delio’s work in Science and Religion is influenced by the Jesuit scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) who devoted his spiritual writing to bridging Christianity and evolution. Like Teilhard, she sees the essential need to integrate Science and Religion toward a new way of thinking, consonant with evolution. Her research interests focus on exploring divine action in a world of evolution, complexity, emergence, quantum reality and artificial intelligence. She continues to lecture and write on religion and evolution, catholicity, cosmology and culture, artificial intelligence and human becoming. Her work has a wide public audience and can be found on the website: www.christogenesis.org.”
Sept 28 – With a Dog
I can walk into the night
down any alley, up any flight
or up or down, for that matter,
into the depths of hell
because I know, all will be well …
with a dog.
In season or out, blue skies or gray,
warm or cold, friendless or fourfold,
in good times or bad,
every day, such is life,
I always have hope …
with a dog.
Three more adorable and adoptable dogs from Stray Rescue of STL.
https://www.strayrescue.org/adopt-a-dog
Sept 21 – LOVE IS BUT A SMILE AWAY
your smile helps me smile
my life is always better
in your company
https://www.strayrescue.org/adopt-a-dog
So grateful to have the opportunity to walk the fur friends at Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Above are the five that reminded me yesterday that love still exists, and we can be a part of giving and receiving it, whenever we volunteer at our local animal rescue facility.
Aug 26 – International Dog Day
Can you feel the love,
see the desire to be close?
Nose to nose, we see.
“INTERNATIONAL DOG DAY: A SPECIAL DAY TO CELEBRATE ALL DOGS AROUND THE WORLD!
The International Dog Day is observed annually on August 26 to honor all dogs – no matter shapes, sizes, age and breeds – and encourage adoption to all those who have yet to find a home and a family forever.
It is a good and symbolic occasion to celebrate man’s best friend and to remember that every dog around the world should deserve a better life: a life of joy, love, protection, care and respect. A special day to raise awareness about dog adoption because if you are looking for a life’s companion, shelters are full of four-legged friends who are waiting for their chance and will bring just happiness to your days.
Today we also want to give special thought to all dogs that are still left behind in many parts of the world because people, government or local authorities do not care. We should remember all dogs killed, abused, mistreated, but also those who live homeless, in suffering with no care and need to be helped and rescued.
This day was created in 2004 by Colleen Paige, a pet and family lifestyle expert and animal advocate who chose to celebrate the day on August 26 as it was the date that her family adopted their first dog ‘Sheltie’ from an animal shelter home.
Since the first celebration in 2004, National Dog Day has grown in popularity and is now celebrated across the world as International Dog Day.
Today choose to celebrate by giving your dog an extra cuddle, but also do not forget the others and help them by volunteering in a shelter, making a donation or consciously adopting your friend forever.
Be sure to spend this day acknowledging how wonderful and valuable dogs are and give them something positive back as they deserve.”
Jun 29 – Walking with Friends
Today’s dogryu: Walking with Friends
Love’s many versions
await your return – they know
we need each other
Ponce
Freon
The Supreme
Jun 28 – One Week Later
Zorro and me a few months back
Today’s dogryu: One Week Later
miss you so, Zorro
grateful for the time we had
still holding you close
I return to Stray Rescue today to walk some big dogs. Plenty of dogs looking for love and attention. The feelings are mutual.
In his book HOW TO LIVE WHEN A LOVED ONE DIES, Thich Nhat Hanh explains:
“Letting Emotions Flow Through You
Do not be afraid of your painful feelings and difficult emotions. If we try to repress our painful feelings, we create a lack of circulation in our psyche which can lead to depression or other psychological problems. Just as the body needs good circulation of the blood to remain healthy, we also need good psychological circulation. …
Mindfulness is the blood of our psyche. Like the blood in the body, it has the power to eliminate toxins and heal our pain. Every time our pain is embraced by mindfulness, it loses some of its strength; it becomes weaker each time. …
When mindfulness circulates in our consciousness, we begin to experience well-being. We needn’t be afraid of our pain when we know that our mindfulness is also there, ready to embrace and transform it.” p.56
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/667266/how-to-live-when-a-loved-one-dies-by-thich-nhat-hanh
A Final Goodbye with Zorro
A final goodbye in the consolation room
After 8 days of not eating and 5 days of medical tests and treatment, I made the decision not to continue medical intervention, based on consultation with multiple medical advisors.
Zorro, a 12-year-old male Chihuahua, had an enlarged kidney, gallbladder, liver and pancreas with multiple cysts attached. The doctors said the combination of his age, size and multiple organs involved indicated that further treatment would be too intrusive and not likely to make a difference anyway.
Goodbye dear fur friend.
As Will Rogers reportedly said:
Life Matters 