Blessed by Animals

Dear Friends,

The animal blessing service that we held last Saturday gave me pause for thought. Clearly there was a lot of energy about our newest endeavor, from both inside and outside our congregation.

As we gathered on the lawn of the church and spoke to people passing by about their pets or animal companions, we were interacting with a community...our community.  There was a lot of traffic because of the street festival going on just a few short blocks away.  Several blessings occurred on the spur of the moment; dog walkers passing by just stopped in when invited to get their dogs blessed.

In the process of having the honor to bless these wonderful creatures, I realized that what my friend Alexandra Child wrote to me was true.  (Alexandra graciously sent me the animal blessing service that she had previously put together and was that on which I based our service.)  Alexandra wrote that she comes at animal blessings from the viewpoint that it is the animals who bless us.

As I knelt besides pooches of all sizes and gazed at pictures of cats (even blessing one cat via a cell phone picture) I realized the love that passes between humans and their companions is unadulterated and very often pure; especially from the animal companion to the human.

Truly they bless us with all that they do and are for us.  And not just our companions, but all the animals of God’s creation.

Give thanks and praise to God for any & all animals in your life.

Peace,
Gerry

photo © Allen Foster
text © Gerry Brague