Susan notes: Another great one from The Daily Om
Our individual reactions to events are shaped by what we ourselves have experienced in our own lives.
Our view of the universe is largely determined by our experiences....
When elephants retire, many head for the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. They arrive one by one, but they tend to live out their lives two-by-two.
"Every elephant that comes here searches out someone that she then spends most all of her time with," says sanctuary co-founder Carol Buckley.
"It's like having a best girlfriend. Somebody they can relate to, they have something in common with."
Susan notes: This story touching story of love and faith was emailed to me by my friend Diana in Ottawa, Canada. It’s told by Joy Scrivener, mother of three children. When the family’s dog Abbey dies, Scrivener’s daughter Meredith persuades her Mom to send a letter to God, asking him to take care of the deceased dog, which Scrivener describes (in comment posted about a year after I first published the story here on AWR), as "a little foundling; the best guess we have as to her heritage is part daschund, part fence-jumper." The photograph which accompanies the story is NOT that of Meredith and Abbey.
The only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small, uninhabited island. She prayed feverishly for God to rescue her, and every day she scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, she eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect herself from the elements and to store the few possessions she had managed to save in the high seas disasaster.
Then one day, after scavenging for food, she arrived home to find her little hut in flames, with huge billows of smoke rolling up to the sky.
The worst had happened; everything was lost. She was stung with grief and anger.
"God, after all I've been through, how could you do this to me!" she cried.
Mum and Dad were watching TV when Mum said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed”.
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches, rinsed out the out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table, and started the coffeepot for brewing next morning.
She then put some wet clothes into the dryer, put a load of clothes in the wash, ironed a shirt, and secured a loose button.
She picked up the newspapers strewn on the floor, picked up the game pieces left on the table, and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a waste-paper basket, and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom.