The Blessing of Pets
by Rev. Cory Bradford-Watts
Readings
St Francis’ “Canticle of the Creatures and Brother Sun”
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no man is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather
through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.
A corresponding video of this message will premiere at 7 pm ET on YouTube
Read the written message below with music videos
Our pets bring blessings beyond description through their loving connection and by just being an example of being, enough so that perhaps we should all start calling them our companions, compatriots, or family, as many already do! Whether we recognize it or not, the beingness of pets is a key way that pets bring greater health into our lives, helping to settle our minds, comfort us, and ground us more in the moment. Of course, all their loving cuteness, connection, and fun, as well as the other blessings they bring, help with that too! This is also why it can be so harrowing to lose a pet, missing that comforting, individual presence, and love.
Indeed, we know from recent studies that pet owners live longer, healthier lives, due to their pets’ influence. Part of this is because of the added exercise walking the dog and chasing the chicken or the cat, but I believe another aspect is at play here too: their example of present moment awareness and connectedness with their environment is a good example for us disconnected (or you could say over-connected) folks! Like a good hike in the woods, engagement with our pets brings our minds into the moment, helping us let go of our conceptual, ruminating thoughts and reconnect with peaceful awareness itself. In a weird way, this can be similar to some of our possible bad habits – distracting us away from our anxieties and back into a semblance of present moment awareness – but without the unnecessary negative side effects of harmful drug use or habitual lustful escapades, much like meditation.
Pets remind us to be. When we watch our pets (or another human being, for that matter) without expectation or feelings of division, we are reconnecting with nature itself. Celebrating the blessings of our pets is a good reminder of all the manifold blessings of nature itself and the deep living lessons to be learned there. If mystics like the 18th-century sage Emanuel Swedenborg are right, then in our pets and nature we have living reminders, embodiments, and metaphors of God all around us, serving to point us back toward health and non-divisional connectedness with everything around us in loving compassion. This is what some Buddhists call bodhicitta: a sense of deep oneness with all beings and Divine Awareness itself, in unity with a compassion for all things. This, we’re told, should motivate personal goals of hoping to empower nature and help lead all beings to enlightenment.
Indigenous peoples have been acutely aware of the gifts that animals bring, with respect for animals and their connection with the Great Spirit being a key aspect of many Indigenous spiritualities. As I was growing up, my mother, as she celebrated her perceived Indigenous roots, would paint scenes of animals and natural beauty on our walls due to the inherent sacredness that Indigenous peoples see throughout the natural world. In the West, our lack of acknowledgment and respect for these deep truths offered to us from the First Nations is the key reason our industries and personal practices have led us to the increasingly catastrophic natural upheaval we see, the disasters and natural challenges caused by human-made climate change. And, like many in the West, it took me all too many years to take these lessons seriously and become aware of the great harm and trauma levelled against others and ourselves as we continue to fall into the same old modes of being and uneconomic systems.
This last week Canada had its National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, where many mourned, reflected upon, and marched to highlight the vast injustice, cruel harm, and genocide levelled at Indigenous peoples in Canada and throughout the Americas, and especially the horrors these peoples faced due to residential schools. In a way, our treatment of the Indigenous reflects and, indeed, is deeply connected to our treatment of the earth and all its life – darkly mirroring how Indigenous spiritualities see a deep and profound connection between us as humans and the natural world, a connection that our pets do much to remind us of. We recently saw in the news the announcement of 23 more animal species declared extinct, caused by a type of genocide we’re often shy to level against our way of life and industry, and yet these are often the root and only cause of such cosmic destruction, as well as the abuse we level at many of the animals we call livestock today.
And perhaps what our response to this should be is often embodied in our pets as well. We are called to let go of our internal and external embodiments of such a destructive system and learn to become more grounded and aware: reconnecting with God within, our intrinsic sourcedness in the vastness of peaceful compassionate awareness. Like a pet with its human, we are called to be more in tune with Divinity’s will, which is ultimately the will of our higher self, noting that God’s providence in this light is our own, just as all our love, wisdom, awareness, and other gifts are sourced in God. To become in tune with this, like most pets (when no one’s at the door) we should lean into our quiet meditative practices, without preoccupation with a screen or anything else. This opens us up to our intrinsic connection to God’s power, because as we become more aligned with the will of our deeper, meditative self, our will becomes God’s and we no longer fight with every moment. This meditative self intrinsically knows that there are no divisions and naturally loves our self, others, and our world as gifts just as precious as the most well-loved pet. It also seeks to heal these things as we would any injured loved one. From here, political action and other healthy work naturally flow, just like when our pets are presented with something engaging and within their reach, they act without burden or postponement.
Today we celebrate all these invitations toward healthy living that our pets help invite us to. And we celebrate the love, light, and connection that they bring as part of our families. We’re inspired to this on this day thanks to St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and nature. Like many mystics, St. Francis also believed that animals had living souls on a journey with the Creator. So much so that it’s said that he would sometimes take time to preach to the animals on his journeys, and they’d stop to listen! Although most of us may not yet be on that leg of our sharing journey, I think there’s something to be said to more greatly respect the light behind the eyes of our fellow earthlings. Our pets remind us of the vibrancy of the natural world, a lesson we should carry into our everyday practices, remembering that however we treat the least of these, we treat God.
Blessings of peace and presence to you and yours,
Cory