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Angel Animals Story of the Week, 6-17-06, "Finding God in All Things"
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Allen Anderson
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Aug 02, 2006 23:16 PDT
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Angel Animals Story of the Week
June 17, 2006
Visit us at www.angelanimals.net
Dear Friends of Angel Animals,
Welcome to the Angel Animals Story of the Week.
We received many lovely letters last week from people who liked reading
about our visit to New Orleans and our trip to Animal Rescue New
Orleans. Quite a few of you wrote to say you had made a donation to this
loving organization (www.animalrescueneworleans.org). Thank you! If you
missed last week's story, go to the Angel Animals Website and look for
it in the archives.
This morning, we received a call from a sweet woman in St. Petersburg,
Russia. That's right. Russia! She had found an injured dog who had lost
his two back legs. She said there is only one private animal shelter in
the entire city and it is too full to keep this dog. She can't have him
because her other dog is too aggressive around newcomers to the
household. She had managed to get an American company that sells a
wheelchair device for dogs to send her one of their devices.
The woman was calling us because she had been to the new website we've
started for the book about animal rescue (see below). She wondered if we
knew of organizations that did international adoptions. So far, she
hadn't been able to find anyone in her city or country to adopt the
disabled dog.
So we're putting the question out to you. If you know of some agency
that could figure out how to get this dog from Russia to a new home in
another country or if you are in Russia and would like to be in touch
with this women, send us an e-mail and we will forward it to her. This
little dog has such a good friend in a lady who is searching all over
the world to help him.
The story this week is from Sue Tanida about the invisible ways that
animals help each other.
We invite you to e-mail this week's newsletter in its entirety to others
who might enjoy it.
Animal blessings,
Allen & Linda Anderson
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Angel Animals Story of the Week
FINDING GOD IN ALL THINGS
By Sue Tanida
Yesterday we were driving in the foothills just south of Lancaster to go
see wildflowers. A little squirrel darted into the road, and I then I
could see his little body in my rear view mirror. My boyfriend Rick and
I were incredibly saddened.
We turned the car around, and Rick picked up the squirrel. Then he dug a
little hole and put the squirrel's body in it. We sent a little blessing
his way as we buried him with a flower on his body. We used some rocks
and broken glass found nearby as a grave marker.
Having given names to everyone from Edgar, the little hummingbird
fledgling who somehow found his way into our home in his last hours, and
a cat whose body we found on the side of the road and moved out of the
street, I felt that this squirrel needed a name to honor him. I named
the little guy Ignatius.
I knew that Saint Ignatius was a Catholic saint. Having been raised
Protestant, I didn't know what this saint was known for. I just knew
that the little squirrel's name was supposed to be Ignatius and nothing
else.
I later looked up Saint Ignatius on the Internet and found out that not
only was he the founder of the Jesuit order, but also that the Jesuits
are known for finding God in all things and not only during formal times
of prayer. The Jesuits believe that all times are times of prayer.
What a perfect connection, I thought. The little squirrel somehow was
named after the founder of a religious order who recognized that God was
in that tiny life. And that every moment of his life, including his
death, was a living prayer.
Rick and I believe that our recognition of the sacredness of Ignatius's
body, life, and spirit has somehow drawn his spirit into the circle of
love we share with all the animals we have loved and physically lost.
This morning when Rick drove onto the UCLA campus, the college where he
works, a little squirrel stopped right in the path of his car. He
yielded to the squirrel. Then that squirrel ran parallel to the car,
quickly along the sidewalk. He looked sideways at Rick's car the entire
time until some bushes obscured the path.
Despite the large number of squirrels present on UCLA's campus, this has
never happened to Rick before. We believe that the squirrel sensed or
saw little Ignatius's spirit with Rick and was in some way acknowledging
his presence.
Our spirit kittens are Sarabande and Houdini. Sarabande's best friend,
the spirit bunny Thomas, and Edgar, the spirit hummingbird, were all
with us on our trip the day we encountered Ignatius. The squirrel was
welcomed into our animals-in-spirit family by them as well as by us.
Since her passing in July, Sarabande has helped lots of kittens (and
"bunny kittens") make friends and adjust to the other side. She has been
there for my friends' pets when they made their transitions. They have
funny stories such as when one friend, who does rabbit rescue, asked
Sarabande to watch over the baby bunnies. Then she overheard a lady gasp
and say, "For a second there I thought I saw a cat in with the baby
rabbits."
Ignatius has joined our spirit companion family for sure. He also has
expressed the intention to help welcome home his fellow squirrels and
small creatures who pass suddenly like he did.
BIO:
Sue Tanida is an Angel Therapy Practitioner(r) and animal communicator.
She, Rick, and their cats live in southern California. Contact her at <
sueta-@yahoo.com >.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
Have you ever had a spiritual insight that came as a result of an
animal's passing?
* * * * *
ANGEL ANIMALS QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"Until recently, prevailing scientific dogma rejected the notion that
animals have minds and feelings. The window on the question of animal
pleasure was closed and shuttered. The shutters are now open. While we
may never be able to communicate with other animals as clearly as we can
communicate with each other humans, their behavior is a window through
which we can learn much about their private feelings. From the play of
animals to their food preferences, from their sexual behavior to their
anticipation of rewards, it is clear that they, too, have richly
positive experiences. We are not the only species to feel exhilaration's
rush, anticipation's pull, or paroxysms of delight."
--Jonathan Balcombe, PLEASURABLE KINGDOM, Animals and the Nature of
Feeling Good, Macmillan, 2006, page 226
"Never try to out-stubborn a cat."
--Robert A. Heinlein, Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love (The Notebooks
of Lazarus Long)
"No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle."
--Winston Churchill
"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is
infinitely superior."
--Hippolyte Taine
"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or
discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is
to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."
--Milan Kundera
* * * * *
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BOOKS by Allen and Linda Anderson:
Go to Amazon.com or bn.com for descriptions of these books and
recommendations from those who have read them.
ANGEL DOGS: Divine Messengers of Love, by Allen and Linda Anderson,
published by New World Library, with a foreword by Willard Scott.
RAINBOWS & BRIDGES: An Animal Companion
Memorial Kit by Allen and Linda Anderson, published
by New World Library.
ANGEL CATS: Divine Messengers of Comfort
GOD'S MESSENGERS: What Animals Teach Us about the Divine
ANGEL ANIMALS: Exploring Our Spiritual Connection with Animals.
All of Allen and Linda's books are available at online or regular
bookstores, some Costco stores, and at many gift shops that sell animal
books. ANGEL CATS and ANGEL DOGS are also available through One Spirit
Book Club.
COMING SOON:
RESCUED: Saving Animals From Disaster by Allen and Linda Anderson, New
World Library (August 2006). Visit www.rescuedsavinganimals.net for a
preview of the book.
ANGEL HORSES: Divine Messengers of Hope by Allen and Linda Anderson, New
World Library (September 2006).
* * * * *
OTHER INFORMATION
The Angel Animals Network is devoted to collecting and disseminating
original, true stories about the spiritual connection between people and
animals. You can learn more about the Angel Animals at
www.angelanimals.net.
If you send this newsletter to others (and we hope that you will),
please don't change it in anyway and include the information above about
the Angel Animals Network. Thank you.
This newsletter is sent to you by the Angel Animals Network. Copyright
2006, Allen and Linda Anderson, Angel Animals Network. All rights
reserved. Nothing in this newsletter may be reproduced or published
without the written permission of the individual authors and/or
copyright owners. Angel Animals(r) is a registered trademark.
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