Dear Spirit to Spirit friend,
Have you ever wondered...who you truly are, who animals truly are?
Have you ever had a sense that what we are, what they are, is so much deeper than what we all appear to be? That how we look, what our personalities are like, how we think and feel, are just the waves on the surface of an infinitely deep ocean.
And certainly we've all had experiences with our animal family members where we have
been amazed, mystified, by something they do- some way in which they behave that seems
to betray the idea of their being a simply adorable fluffy cuteness, a winged charmer, a beautiful one with a different set of clothes.
An experience that surprises us to our Core. That makes us question everything we think we know about his/her species and him/her as an individual. Something that deeply touches us, that shakes loose all of our perceived ideas so that we have to ask again- who are you really? And we have to question....everything.
We see this frequently in the news, on television magazine shows. Where animals seem to step out of the bounds of the perceived limitations we've placed on them and make extraordinary gestures. Toward us, toward their own species, or toward a different species.
Have you read this story? From the Good News Network. About Rex and Hummer and their person (see photos above).
"Abandoned as a puppy and growing up on the streets, this mixed German shepherd was “vicious"- until he was rescued and shown some love. Then he, himself, rescued a dying baby hummingbird. The grateful bird refuses to leave the dog’s side, and so apparently Rex has a gentle friend for life.
The birdlet had fallen from a nest and was covered with ants when Rex found her under a tree. Rex’s person thought the bird was dead. But Rex- adopted just a month earlier- refused to leave the little bird behind. Realizing that the hummingbird was still breathing, Rex's person took her in and nursed her back to health- and named her Hummer. He even taught her to fly using a airdryer.
It’s been more than a year but Hummer refuses to leave, insisting on staying close to the dog who steadfastly refused to abandon her. Hummer lives in the house with her human and canine best friend. Knowing it’s time for Hummer to mate, the doors and windows are left open for Hummer to leave, but so far, she prefers hovering around Rex, wherever he goes- even bathing in Rex’s water bowl.
Rex and Hummer’s person says: “It was this little creature. This fragile creature that Rex was trying to protect so I thought I’d go the distance.”
So maybe we need to ask: who is Rex, really? Who is Hummer?
That this being called Rex found such deep empathy, compassion, and kindness toward and connection with this little flying one, one not of "his kind", and would not leave her side. Insisted that his person rescue her.
Must he not have felt a connection with Hummer beyond his ordinary experience of her for Rex to demand that she not be left behind. And Hummer. That she gave herself over to this canine and this person and trusted in their kindness and care. Trusted beyond what her species instincts might tell her to do. And that these relationships are more essential to her now than her own species directives.
This incredible story seems to demonstrates the truth about who we all are at the deepest level of our being- the natural state of our being. That, at the most essential level, we are, all of us- One Being, One Essence, revealing Itself in different forms. That we all are The One Life that sees Itself in everyone and everything. The One Love that sees beyond surface differences of size, shape, gender, species. And The One Empathy and Compassion that sees the sacredness in the life of each and every living being.
With grace and beauty, Rex and Hummer and their person are certainly demonstrating to us The One Nature that we all are and how to live and love as that in each moment of our lives.
May we see through the eyes of The One Love as we look at our animal and human family members today.
In Gratitude & Love, Joanna