[nagdu] Season's greetings

Tracy Carcione carcione at access.net
Mon Dec 20 13:19:48 UTC 2010


I like that.  Thanks.
And Happy Holidays to all.
Tracy

> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
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