I woke up today and got ready to start a new practice. My intention was to grab my usual cup of tea and begin the New Year with my goal of reading the entire Bible over the course of 2012. I attempted to read the entire Bible in a year in 2011, but, well, it didn't happen.
Before I could even start reading, Meesha (my dog) started barking. She gave me “the stare” and so I had to ask, "do you need to go out?" "Yes," she replied. I thought I might have had a moment or two before we went out, as she went out late last night and sometimes doesn't want to go right away in the morning. (I included that fact so I don't appear to be neglecting her needs here and contradicting myself as a true animal lover). But not today. I figured I would be back in a few minutes and would pick up where I had left off. Naively, I placed a piece of paper over the tea, so that it would remain nice and hot until we returned.
And then we started to walk. And we continued to walk. And then we walked some more. In fact, we walked for 45 minutes. Meesha, who sometimes doesn't really even want to go further that a few hundred feet if not in the right mood, decided that she needed to check out the entire neighborhood with her nose.
Never one to miss an opportunity to gain animal perspective, I asked her why we were walking so much? Meesha responded by “showing me” (via an image I received) the ground, the soil and the grass. With all of these pictures of nature Meesha also gave me scents. Amazingly lively, fresh scents that I could smell. Granted I could not smell these smells directly from earth but via Meesha, I was provided with an ability to smell them. Stick with me, this one's a little hard to describe on paper.
Now, I live in NJ and although where I live is not what people might associate with NJ if one is not familiar with the state (there is actually a good amount of nature in these "parts"), there still remains the barrier to smelling the freshness of that nature at this time of year. I would not have realized, had it not been for Meesha, that there is so much "freshness" coming from the earth at this time. She also showed me the earth regenerating itself and because of some dew that was on the ground, the scents coming up strongly from the earth.
I then asked if this excitement over sniffing and walking and exploring had anything to do with a message for me (being the selfish human that I am, I couldn't resist myself). Meesha responded, "yes, connect with God this way, too. And no tea yet". Essentially, Meesha was telling me something that I already knew but I often choose to neglect. I love that first cup of tea in the morning. However, I know that caffeine can be a barrier to connecting with God, effective meditation and communicating with animals. It tends to put many of us in our heads, taking us out of that grounded place where we can “listen” more effectively. Let's face it, animals don't start the day with a Red Bull and we need to be where they are if we are going to be able to connect with them on an energetic level. Animal communication involves just that, working with energy to communicate.
If I really wanted to connect with God, Meesha was saying, I should do exactly what she was helping me to do. Take notice of the earth and of the renewal going on at all times that God puts right in from of our faces every moment of every day. Giving thanks to God for this on the first day of the New Year put me right where I needed to be to connect with Him. And delaying the caffeine did help (not that the tea cup isn't now empty. Hey, it's Jane Goodall Foundation tea, after all).
Interestedly, I am reading the Bible in chronological order and so started with Genesis. It does, of course, include how God created the earth and how the animals were put on the earth and how we as humans have been assigned the responsibility by God to care for His creation. (Genesis 2:15)
I think my walk with Meesha today and with reading this scripture reminds me about how valuable the earth is and the animals and how key it is to take notice and be thankful for nature. In essence, God chose Meesha to bring me a little bit closer to Him today.
Just one more reason to love her.