How Do Animals Bring Spiritual Growth
Do you have a dog or cat? Or perhaps another critter that is part of your family? (No I am not talking about spouses!). As I sit here with Dekker at my feet I ask myself how have animals helped or hindered my aging process? And what role do our pets have when it comes to spiritual growth.
When I was about five years old a sweet dog named Chico, a Siberian husky, became part of our family. My mother claimed her asthma wouldn’t allow her to let the dog indoors.
I suspect Chico’s role in our family was to toughen my mother’s lungs and soften her heart, for this dog was the first and last to ever sleep outside of our home.
My next dog, Princess, came to stay when I was twelve. A beautiful German shepherd, Princess laid claim to one of the two twin beds in my room.
I spent untold hours training her to jump over bales of hay and fetch. Moving on to college I left Princess behind.
As my world enlarged, my self-absorption grew. No animal deserved my self-centered attention.
I spent my late adolescence without a dog or cat to keep me on the straight and narrow, which is, after all one of their divine callings.
I don’t think I need to pontificate much about the value of big brown (or blue or green) eyes that watch every move you make, promising to follow you anywhere, and communicating love that words fail to convey.
Spiritual growth and awakening
Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.—Anatole France.
I don’t hide the fact that my heart is gone on dogs…particularly large ones with soft ears. But I acknowledge pets come in many different coats…from a cat’s lush fur, to the hard shell of a turtle, or even slippery scales on a fish or snake.
I am not sure I would keep a snake but to some people their amphibians and reptiles are soul mates. I’ll stick to the soft furry ones.
A pet is not just a pet. They are a therapist when you are stressed, a clown when you’re sad, a listener when you’re upset, and a friend who never lets you down. (Not counting the day I caught my new pup on the dining room table helping himself to the roast beef…)
Research has shown exactly what I would expect–that owning a pet lowers your risk of heart disease. Especially dogs.
They should have asked me before spending tons of grant money. Their premise is that dogs need to be walked and that brings this positive result. I say they missed the truth totally! Dogs need to be loved and it is the power of that love that heals.
Gifts Beyond Spiritual growth
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole—Roger Caras
Roger Caras knew this! And I bet dog-owning readers of TheReflectivePen know this tool!
Research from the University of NY demonstrated that we experience lower levels of stress with animals than with either a close friend or a spouse. I doubt they were using cats in that study!
Now, lest you think I am a ‘cat-basher,’ I have had at least a half dozen of them in my life. You can read my tribute to Eliza, the last cat in my home. You can read my tribute to Eliza, the last cat in my home before the current brothers who arrived to take over as ‘homemakers’.
(First homemakers with their own wrecking crew!) Eliza was treasured. Moxie and Merton have a lot to live up to, but I’ll be gracious and say that they are learning.
That’s the thing about any pet you have in your home— everyone learns. The parakeet learns to speak for his seed, the fish learn to swim to the surface for theirs. A dog will learn basic manners and some, like Dekker, even learn to open the refrigerator. And the cats? Well, I do believe some are learning challenged and I don’t hold that against them.
Spiritual Growth and Social Skills
But what is it WE learn when we have pets? Returning to research for a moment, it has been shown that chldren with autism develop social skills better when they have a dog. Merton, the cat who we have decided is ‘on the spectrum’ is still working on his social skills. Dekker doesn’t seem to be affecting his behavior…but then who would Merton be if he had never had a dog in his life?!
Most of what we learn from our animals falls into the category of spiritual growth. Now, you may have expected I would say we learn to cover the dog food and the pros and cons of various pooper-scoopers.
What I Learned
That may be, but two important learnings for spiritual growth are wisdom and patience. I once had a chocolate lab who was tall enough to reach the counter with his nose and I quickly became wise to the power of temptation to break rules when reaching for food.
With his front paws planted squarely in the middle of a recently frosted cake, Oliver was experiencing ecstacy without a moment of guilt. That is until he saw me coming at him with a spatula in my hand.
I discovered things in my shadow I had ignored until that moment.
I screamed at him.
I lunged for the remnants of the cake.
I waved the spatula like a crazy woman.
Oliver quickly moved back, licked his lips, rolled his eyes and dropped his tail. I suddenly burst out laughing, gathered him into my arms and told him I loved him anyway.
If I could forgive him for being exactly who he was, who am I to wallow in shame for being exactly who I am as I wipe remnants of chocolate from my lips after overindulging?
Learning to have unconditional love for oneself is a lesson many of us never learn in this lifetime. I have had many dogs (and yes, several cats) to love unconditionally, to forgive, to shower with attention, and to keep me active, engaged at something beyond myself and my own self-centered projects.
If that isn’t spirtiual growth, what is?
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