Why Love Solves Everything.
In my late twenties I was sitting in meditation class with a remarkable metaphysical Teacher, and she said, “Don’t you sometimes pray… God help me LOVE MORE.”
What?! Who on earth thinks to pray for more love? I wanted a boyfriend and a million dollars.
This single blog post doesn’t provide space to fully answer that question or explain how Love does in fact solve everything (but how differently!…). I have a story to tell you about how it just started to solve one thing in my life.
You may think I’m going to tell you about falling in Love, but Love is never a falling.
I was on Facebook about nine days ago. An old work associate shared a video of a dog about an hour from where I live in a large, high traffic, high-kill animal shelter. She was a tiny dog who was not fixed had been stray. She was eight years old, feeble, and so devastatingly heartbroken she wouldn’t even lift her head. Cosmic sadness in a tiny dog.
I’ve never owned a dog. Cats are easier. I saw myself getting two medium to larger dogs once I had the right yard for them “someday.” Never a little dog.
We’ve all seen hundreds of heart-wrenching videos. I understand the logic of what happened is highly flawed. Why me and why this little dog? I don’t know.
I only know that as I saw her very sad eyes I knew that I couldn’t let her just die.
Hundreds of animals are euthanized daily within an hour drive from my current location. Why save one if we can’t save them all? For me… because this little dog and I were heartbroken in a very similar way. In her hopelessly sad eyes I saw my own heart’s burden.
It shook me to my bones. I gave myself a few days to be certain. On the day she would have been up to be euthanized I took her and a younger dog home.
Love magic.
The day before they would release her I arrived in the evening to do some paperwork and see her. It was past the time they could pull her out. When I got to the cage all the way in the medical area in the back she was dirty, looked much older, and was sleeping in her own poop.
What had I gotten myself into? I told myself it was ok to back out. I could let it go and walk back to my harmonious life and avoid this stress and interruption. I stood by her cage and tried to talk with her. No response to my voice. Then, I stopped and just stood with her for a few minutes. I felt the warmth and expansion of my energetic heart as it began to open with compassion for this little creature. With my heart open I told her she could come home with me if she wanted. I know that sounds ridiculously cheesy but it’s exactly what I did. And as I did, as the warmth and appreciation and Love poured through me she uncurled and extended her head towards me.
Still doubting my own sanity, the next day as I drove down to pick her up. I gave myself every out I could logically uncover, but my heart ached at the thought so I trusted it and moved forward.
She was so feeble in the cage the volunteer had to wrap her in a towel and carry her to my car. Once we got into the open air of the parking lot I saw her head lift up a tiny fraction.
In the car on the way home she stood a little, so we stopped at a park with their temporary-pound leashes to do business. Within five minutes this feeble, tiny, heartbroken, dirty and poop covered angel had escaped her leash and was RUNNING into the neighborhood. At the shelter they weren’t sure if she could walk!
Thanks to a kind neighbor who saw her in his yard I retrieved her and took them home.
That was Tuesday. Today is Thursday. She still doesn’t have a name, the pound didn’t have one for her. She has been washed, deflea-ed and fed pure good food. It turns out she’s a gorgeous blond color. She is feeble, sleeps most of the time and has clearly been mistreated. To get her outside I carry her out with leash on and then once outside she perks up and sniffs around happily. When she is sleeping and I put my hand on her softly with compassionate intention she relaxes and breathes deeply.
I don’t know if she is going to live a few years or pass away soon of pre-existing illness (vet appointment coming soon). I do know that she won’t die dirty, alone, neglected, abused and unloved in a shelter.
What’s astonishing, inspiring and a darn good example is how animals accept Love and Healing. It’s only been two days. I knew I should have been taking pictures! Her transformation is too great for such a short time. If she were human and had been that broken down by life, surrendered and ready to die, two months would barely begin the healing process. Two months we’d still be depression or acting out or numbing. A two year complete turnaround would be miraculous. Dogs don’t waste time like we do. At least when it comes to accepting Love. In two days of careful Love she has transformed from hopeless and ready to die to a sweet, hungry, pretty but frightened and feeble little dog.
At the shelter one technician said her health was bad and I probably shouldn’t bother. She looked terrible, dirty, in her own poop, unresponsive, ready to die. Even the kind volunteer who helped me carry her to the car couldn’t help but exclaim “the old one?!” when I pointed to the cage.
This evening she actually let me know she needed to go outside, and for the first time I didn’t have to grab and carry her. Her rear legs have stopped trembling.
A broken heart looks terrible, feels terrible…. we are not ourselves.
As I sit with her and bring healing Love to her, it has been healing my own.
Here is what the soon-to-be-named dog taught me:
Don’t give up on any part of yourself. It is time to heal the broken hearts. All of them. No more excuses. If a dog on death’s door can do it so can we. Animals and babies radiate and understand Love because it is the fabric of the Universe. It is what is natural — all our barriers are unnatural! Our striving to win approval and recognition is loose change. We are already part of a Love beyond measure. Let it in. Live in it. Treat yourself from it’s fullness. See your neighbors in it’s accepting clarity. Viva! The power of Love.
