[nagdu] Season's greetings

[Elizabeth Rene]

Hi everyone,

I just want to wish all of you peace and happiness for this holy holiday 
season, and to join in your sorrow over the sad news from Colorado.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories of life with guide dogs, and 
for celebrating the wonder of their being with me.

Here is a short piece I wrote in 2001 in tribute to writer Annie Dillard. 
Hope it warms your hearts for the holidays.



Walking The Dog, Communing With God:

Celebrating the Liturgy of Everyday Life



            At 4:30 a.m., the tap of a wagging tail wakens me from sleep. 
Benedicite. I feed my dog, pull on a coat over my pajamas, and head out into 
the dark of pre-dawn morning to walk in a circle, as I have done for almost 
thirty years.  My dog leaves his offering, and I get down on my knees to 
clean up.  Deo gratias.  Thus begins for me a daily office celebrated before 
dawn, after breakfast, at noon, at suppertime, and before bed.  I feed, I 
water, and I walk in a circle with my dog as I have done for my whole adult 
life, and as countless guide dog handlers throughout the nation do every 
day.



For me, time is shaped by these walks.  Time is out of joint and the day is 
out of focus when I have no dog to walk.   In my relation to my dog, and to 
the God who accompanies us on our walks, I am a kind of monk.  My day is 
divided into the work of feeding and grooming, the discipline of daily 
obedience exercises, the playtime of ball chasing and fetching, and the 
hourly round of walking in a circle, where I pray.



            I did not know what it was to pray until I learned how to walk 
my dog.  I say no words.  I contemplate no psalms and make no petitions. 
But I am filled with deep peace.  Without willing it, my whole self opens to 
the holiness of the moment and gives thanks for the love of other creatures, 
for bodies that work harmoniously to nourish and cleanse themselves, for 
earth and sky, and for the fact that I will daily take part in both no 
matter what else I do in life.  I am joined in relationship to a being other 
than myself, in community with other humans I will never meet, created by 
that Other who is as close to me as I am to my dog. For me, this is 
religion.



Best to all,



Elizabeth