A lot of Mom's human friends have been bugging her to teach me to pray. They want me to lie down and fold my paws in a charming way whenever they say their prayers before they eat Food.
So I started thinking...
Whenever I'm in Mom's car going to visit my human friends, I can hardly wait! I know my human friends love me and I sure love them! As we get closer to their house, I start to wag everything behind my ears in eagerness and joy.
Isn't eagerness and joy a prayer?
Sometimes I am alone for awhile. I sit at the window, watching and longing. In a way I am sad, but somehow I know that someone I love will come and play with me.
Isn't watching and longimg for someone I love a prayer?
At my human friend's house, there is a huge ottoman by the window. I love to sit there and watch out the window. I watch the cars zipping by on the street. I see Squirrel run right up the tree! How can he do that? I can't get up a tree no matter how hard I try, and believe me, I've tried! And so...I wonder. Then Bird goes up off the grass into the air and doesn't fall. I can't do that--and I've tried flapping my ears really fast, but then I just fall on my nose. And I wonder. And when Squirrel runs with four legs along a tiny rope way up in the sky and doesn't fall off, I really wonder!
Isn't wonder a prayer?
When my human friends are eating things that smell really good, I want some, too. But they say, "No!" So I watch and beg. I wag my tail furiously. I make funny sounds in my throat, just to keep begging. In the end I usually get a tiny something that tastes good. So...
Isn't watching and begging a prayer?
Then there's the Dog Park. I meet friends there and we growl and play "Mad." We jump and chase and play "Glad." We lick and play "I Like You." Best of all, we play with abandon as we roll in mud, water, and dart and play "Free."
Isn't abandon a prayer?
Gus is my most favorite dog friend. We usually have lots of fun chasing each other around the house and the yard. Sometimes, though, he growls and snaps. Then I feel hurt and I go in the corner or sit by Mom and pout. But that's only for a little while. I always go back and then we lick and wag and play Chase and we're friends again.
Isn't licking and wagging and making friends again a very good prayer?
When I am at my human friends' house and Mom says it's time to go home, I like to leave a little surprise for one my friends, just to say, "You're special to me." Sometimes I put Bone under someone's bed or my favorite toy on someone's pillow just to make her smile and know I'm thinking of her.
Isn't saying "I like you" in little, secret ways a wonderful prayer?
Anways, Mom doesn't need to teach me to pray. Do I really need to learn to fold my hands to pray? I think my life is a prayer and in everything I am and do I am praying always.
(P.S. I must thank my good human friend Miriam for helping me with the ideas for this blog! She is a very holy person!)
Thought for you humans:
Are you a prayerful person? Do you embody a person of prayer?
