You are what you think..

There is a story told by the American Indians that the Great Spirit decided to divide the worlds of animal and man; so he gathered all the living beings on a great plain and drew a line in the dirt. On one side of the line stood man; on the other side stood all of the animals. And that line began to open up into a great crevasse; and at the last moment, before it became unreachable, dog leaped over - and stood by man.
- Unknown author

I grew up on that story, my Grandfather would speak to me of

" honoring the spirit" of the animals around us. And, I suppose today some therapist would say the old ones " did it wrong" but they taught us, sometimes through a little pain; that animals had feelings too. Once in a fit of anger, I hauled off and gave ol' Myrt the boot, my Grandfather did not miss a beat; in under 30 seconds his palm connected with my fanny. As I whirled around, stunned, at this gentle man who had never raised his voice to me; he turned his back and walked to the dog. Once there he took her by the collar, and me by the hand; and we went into the garden. She didn't want to be close to me; and I sure had my eye on that old man, but we walked to the back of the lot and sat under the Sycamore tree. He told me of trust and betrayal, it wasn't so much that the slipper of a six year old would hurt the Alstatian, it was that I had wounded her spirit. I had thrown away her trust.

That which is created by the Spirit is not mine to harm, but to protect. The cycle of life and death that comes before us, we are charged to honor. Those we cannot save with comfort; we must release with dignity. Over these many years I have lost many animals, some in my selfishness I kept to long; and I learned from that. I have no right to hold any spirit to a sore body. I will leave you with a site that a friend of mine sent to me a few days ago, I found it binding in it's honesty, and the sharing of the readers comments told me it was cathartic for them as well. It is a journal from one who does for us, the most painful task. thus helping us do that which is most difficult..... http://whatikilledtoday.blogspot.com/ From the dogs gathered at my feet to the animals gathered in your heart, we send peace.