Brother Richard

It might still be with us.

But simply to take a moment to draw it before your mind's eye.

It might be a fleeting encounter that you had on one occasion.

or a companion that was part of your family.

But simply rest in the awareness of its presence, at least in thought.

Begin to see how that being is present always to the present moment.

Recognize the gift that it offers

of inviting you into the animal experience of your being, your body, your breath, always in the present moment.

But so often our mind and our hearts can be elsewhere.

Draw yourself back now into the joy of encounter with the animal.

Recognize that by being fully what it was meant to be, it is fulfilling divine will and love.

A dog is simply dog.

A cat is simply cat.

A bird is simply bird, and while there are individual personalities to each, of course,

The dog is not trying to be something else other than what it is.

The cat is not trying to be something else other than what it is.

The bird or whatever other kind of animal you wish to consider is not trying to be anything else other than what it is.

So receive now the first teaching of the animals.

How can we live so that we are fully who and what we are?

How can we live from the fullness of our human nature, just as they have lived from the fullness of their animal nature?