By KEITH WOMMACK — Recently, under darkness of night, members of a Wildlife SOS team, devoted to protecting animals in India, approached a cruelly confined elephant.
Cavan Sieczkowski, in a HuffingtonPost article, wrote of the rescue attempt in India, “For 50 years, Raju the elephant was abused, held shackled in spiked chains and forced to live off scraps from passing tourists.”
The rescue team, armed with fruit, spoke softly to Raju and reassured him that they were there to help. Once Raju felt their love, tears poured down his face. Sieczkowski quotes one of the team leaders, “It was an emotional moment and everyone was more motivated to get him on the truck and to safety.”
The rescuers’ efforts paid off. Raju is now living comfortably at an Elephant Conservation and Care Center. His physical wounds are being treated and he is being prepared to meet other elephants at the center.
Love motivated Raju’s rescue. It is also love that impels you and me to care for the emotional and physical needs of our household pets.
However, not only does love motivate you to help, love motivates you to heal.
Although some believe that animals, regardless of their capacity to reason, are primarily instinctive and reactionary, I’m convinced that every living creature has a spiritual nature. This spiritual nature or identity allows animals to love and to respond to love.
Mary Baker, a young girl in the 1830s, demonstrated that her father’s farm animals responded to the love she showered on them. But, instead of being armed with fruit, Mary touched them with prayer and song.
A biography describing Mary’s healing work for men and women, also mentions her care for animals. Mary would nurse baby lambs and chicks, and sing hymns to other suffering animals during the night. Because her ability to heal was so evident, her father would say, “Here is another invalid for Mary,” when he would find a sick or dying lamb.
As an adult, Mary, now known as Mary Baker Eddy, referred to “divine Love” and “Life” as the ultimate healer and the fountain of our love of animals and their love of us. She would write, “God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men.”
Since you and I love our “too cute” cats and dogs (as well as hamsters and turtles), perhaps we can learn to view them as spiritual beings. This is important because spiritual views heal.
Every prayerful acknowledgement of an animal’s divine nature allows more of their intelligence, loyalty, vitality, and, most importantly, divinely maintained health to appear.
It might be easy to see your pets as active spiritual beings or ideas of Love when they are healthy and spunky. However, it can seem to be a struggle when they appear to be in pain and unlike themselves. This is when a growing affection, trust, and understanding of “divine Love” and “Life” can be beneficial.
A person I corresponded with recently has found divine care to be an effective first choice for her pets’ needs. Her letter to me explains why:
“When I was a senior in college, I had an adult Siamese cat that became very listless. I took her to the vet. He said that she had feline leukemia and there was nothing further he could do for her. When she appeared to be on her deathbed, I started praying. The next thing I knew my cat had traveled up two flights of stairs and tried to jump in my lap. I was so grateful. She was completely healthy again.”
She also noted, “My little Min Pin became deathly sick this last winter. I’d prayed and she improved and she seemed fine, but then she fell ill again.”
“My husband stayed up with her that night. In the morning, he said that she seemed to pass on and then came back. She is his favorite, so this was very hard for him. He had to go to work, so I took over watching her for the next few days and I called you for prayerful help. She then began to make rapid strides to health.”
“You mentioned to me, ‘What is true about Love is true about your dog.’ I held to that and was inspired to just love her.”
“I’m happy to say that my Min Pin recovered completely and is back at being her bossy, agile, spry, active self with an enormous appetite for such a little dog. She taught me that Love is the way.”
After this woman’s call for prayerful help, my prayer included these thoughts:
Thank you, Love, for being the real Father-Mother of all. You are the tender life of this Min Pin and every wonderful being.
Thank you. You keep each of your dear one’s steps, confident and strong. She is safe in your care. You nourish and sustain her.
You have made all your beings “very good,” (Genesis 1:31) — undamaged, beautiful, harmless, and useful. Each of your ideas expresses your animation and vigor.
Your spiritual ideas can never be hidden or lost. What you create is fearless and lasting. Your precious ideas live before and after we can touch them.
Whether we see wings, hooves, beaks, fur, or tails, teach us to see each spiritual creation as you know it and have made it. Show us how to see your creation rightly. Let us comfort your ideas, not harm them. Teach us to love enough to heal.
Thank you for blessing this little Min Pin with your compassion and power, and for blessing us with her sweet companionship, energy, and grace.
Again, love motivates you to help. Love impels you to heal. And since you love your pets, perhaps you can learn to view them as spiritual ideas. As you do, very likely, you will rescue and heal the confined and suffering. Your love might bring an elephant to tears.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith’s columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
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