|
Angel Animals Story of the Week, 4-14-07, "Philis"
|
Allen Anderson
|
Apr 20, 2007 23:06 PDT
|
Angel Animals Story of the Week
April 14, 2007
Visit us at www.angelanimals.net
Dear Friends of Angel Animals,
Welcome to the Angel Animals Story of the Week.
Having a dog with a good memory is a lesson in how karma works - what
goes around comes around. Our dog Leaf became fixated on Norman's
orange ball at the dog park. Norman is a black and tan collie-mix who
absolutely adores his orange ball. Yesterday Leaf took the precious toy
away from Norman and made the dog chase him for twenty minutes, trying
to get it back.
Today, Leaf brought his favorite lime-green ball to the dog park. For
the entire time we were there, Norman dropped interest in his orange
ball and chased Leaf's green one. Finally Leaf had to run around the
entire time protecting his property by keeping the ball firmly gripped
in his mouth.
What goes around comes around.
We hope you enjoy this week's story about patience paying off with the
joy of a loyal companion cat.
Please read the announcement below about the new radio program featuring
our longtime friend and pioneer of animals and spirituality, Susan
Chernak McElroy. We hope you will support her new endeavor.
Contest entries (see the announcement below) are coming in for the 2007
Angel Dogs at Work Contest. Don't put off sending in your story. You'll
be glad that you took the time to honor a special dog that had a job to
do, did it well, and fulfilled his purpose in life.
Email this newsletter in its entirety to your animal loving friends and
encourage them to sign up for our weekly publication. They will be
joining a terrific community of thousands of like-minded people from
people around the world.
Animal blessings,
Allen & Linda Anderson
* * * * *
STORY OF THE WEEK
PHILIS
By Mary B. Lathrop
I was living on the outskirts of a small, rural South Dakota town, when
one night I heard an animal screaming in my front yard. I opened the
door to look, and a small black and white tuxedo kitty rushed in. Two
men in a pickup truck on the edge of my lot were laughing. I believed
they had tortured the kitty.
She came as a tremendous biter. I never had a cat before and didn't
know what to do. I had an M.A. in educational psychology and thought I
would stop the cat from biting by using positive
reinforcement. (Gloves and rabies shot, first.) Wrong! There was
nothing to positively reinforce. She just bit.
I thought of her as my emotionally disturbed child and decided to try
unconditional love. She bit, I petted. She bit, I petted. About a
month later she was 99 percent bite-free. I continued to hold and pet
her lots.
She became a profuse licker, and our deep love was in full bloom.
Nightly until she died, when I lay down to sleep she played with my hair
and licked my face. Once I timed her licking my foot for eleven
minutes. I named my kitty Philis from the Greek word, PHIL, for love.
Philis passed away at fourteen-and-one-half years. Her death was not
unexpected because she was an older diabetic. Her passing was difficult
for me. I found comfort in Bible verses about love: "But the fruit of
the Spirit is love." (Gal 5: 22-23); "Do everything in love." (1 Cor
16:15)
To share the love Philis and I had for each other, I used these biblical
verses and a picture of Philis to create a greeting card. I had three
hundred cards made and gave away seventy of them. The rest, like the
loving spirit of Philis, will last me a lifetime.
BIO:
Mary B. Lathrop teaches high school chemistry to Mexican-American
students in Houston, Texas. When Philis came to her, Mary was a legal
services attorney in South Dakota.
* * * * *
ANGEL ANIMALS QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"The animals are right here, right in front of us. And how we treat
these companions is a test."
--Linda Blair
"Ever occur to you why some of us can be this much concerned with
animals suffering? Because government is not. Why not? Animals don't
vote."
--Paul Harvey
"Nature helps not only animals with broken limbs to survive, but wounds
of animals shot with poisoned arrows have healed."
--Louis Leakey
"I have learned that you can communicate on a very deep level with any
living form. That's why my gardens bloom and my animals are so
healthy--because I communicate with them."
--Connie Stevens
* * * * *
ANNOUNCEMENT:
"For Kindred Spirits," a brand new radio program hosted by Susan Chernak
McElroy, explores the spiritual and emotional connections we have with
animals and nature. The show is now available to all public radio
stations through the Public Radio Exchange (prx.org). You can
hear it on your local station simply by contacting the Program Director
and requesting that they broadcast this beautiful program. For more
information, contact producer Paul Messing at
pmes-@indiana.edu.
NEW CONTEST
Do You Know a Dog Who Has Found a Purpose in Life?
Do you have a dog who demonstrates what it means and how fulfilling it
is to have a life's purpose? Have you lived with a dog who performs
some type of physical, emotional, or spiritual services for you or
others? Have you had a miraculous o r mystical experience with a dog
who teaches others how to give without expecting a return? Has a dog
provided an example of purpose that inspired you to find your true
calling?
Submit your maximum 2,000-word true story to the 2007 Angel Dogs at Work
Contest. Allen and Linda Anderson, authors of God's Messengers, Angel
Cats, Angel Dogs, Rainbows & Bridges, Rescued: Saving Animals from
Disaster, and Angel Horses offer this contest to honor the spiritual
connection between humans and dogs who give service to life.
The Andersons are sponsoring this contest to help them find potential
stories for publication in their upcoming book, Angel Dogs at Work:
Divine Messengers Who Found Their Life's Purpose. One grand prize of
$250 will be awarded to the first-place winner. A second-place prize of
$25.00 will be awarded to an additional five contestants. There is no
entry fee. The contest begins on February 15, 2007, and submissions must
be postmarked on or prior to July 15, 2007. Complete contest rules and
entry form are at www.angelanimals.net/awards.html
* * * * *
BOOKS by Allen and Linda Anderson:
RESCUED: Saving Animals from Disaster
(www.rescuedsavinganimals.net)
ANGEL HORSES: Divine Messengers Hope
ANGEL DOGS: Divine Messengers of Love
RAINBOWS & BRIDGES: An Animal Companion Memorial Kit
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, and through www.newworldlibrary.com, which offers discounts for
purchasing multiple books. Angel Horses, Angel Dogs, and Angel Cats are
also available at One Spirit Book Club.
* * * * *
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
2007, 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.
|
|
 |
|
