Journal of Sacred Work

Why do people love their pets so much? Look at this little photo and see if you don’t feel better. Meet Casey, my younger sister Martha’s dog. Martha is a caregiver at The Toledo Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. Each day, she greets hundreds of visitors in her role as receptionist at the front desk. She does her job so well that last year she was named employee of the year at this large hospital.

How do you keep up your energy in such a demanding job, especially when many people are asking you the same questions every day? As she comes home tired at the end of her work, Martha knows she can count on something special from Casey – uncondtional affection…

   As you may know from direct experience, animals can be wonderful caregivers. Alive Hospice in Nashville engages the help of a partner who brings both cats and dogs to visit patients. Hospice at Riverside in Columbus, Ohio used to have a marvelous dog named Libby. Libby wore a name badge on her collar and was, with due respect to the rest of the staff, the most popular caregiver in the place.

   The most striking thing I recall about Libby is the stories the staff would tell about Libby’s caregiving. One patient, distraught over her terminal illness, withdrew into herself so completely that she refused to speak. One night, the nurse found the patient lying on the floor hugging Libby and weeping as she spoke for the first time in a week. Throughout, Libby lay quiet.

   Dogs and cats don’t pass judgment. They don’t mind if a patient has lost all her hair and they don’t mind lying still for hours as patients on the edge of life stroke their ears or confess their heart’s pain.

  The Case of Casey is open and shut. He is a caregiver’s caregiver. And I know he brings energy and hope to my sister everyday – just like he did for you when you gazed into his warm brown eyes a few moments ago.

Reflection: Click on this picture to enlarge. Consider any animals in your life that have seemed to bring you comfort. What can we learn from them about love? What can you share in your experience of animals (in a Comment – below) that  might warm the lives of others reading this meditation.