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NAOMI AND RUTH: LOYALTY AMONG WOMEN
Faith
Ziggy, the Miracle Dog
Ziggy was a great dog! This book is my hope-filled reflection precipitated by my grief over his passing, the depth of which surprised me. I struggled with my faith, with God, with daily life, but ultimately I celebrated the Mystery of Zig's life and his companionship to me. He'd been miraculously healed of a life-ending tumor and lived many years to old age. His life was a gift to me. He was willful, playful, and a companion par excellence. I loved him, you know! His life taught me a lot about how to live and how to persist and have fun and be myself.
Excerpt
One: Endings are Beginnings
The cliché "one door closes and another opens" is intended as a comfort during times of transition or loss, but doors are solid barriers. When one does not know what is on the other side, barriers can be frightening. Really, though, they portend mystery and adventure. Perhaps the life that leads up to the door is the promise of what is beyond. If this is so, then how we live and what we believe are the markers and the guideposts to eternal understanding. Thus, I am beginning this book with an ending.
Ziggy the Miracle Dog
Just Sayin'
The spiritual journey is life-long, not taking us on a straight line from birth to death, but outward in an ever-expanding orb of light that radiates into our lives, into our families, and out into our world. Often we obey all the rules, but it is not enough. As Abbot Joseph, one of the Desert Fathers, his fingers igniting into ten lamps of fire, tells us: “Why not become totally changed into fire?”
Seven reflections, written by a Christian minister and spiritual director, who is also steeped in the Eastern practice of Reiki healing, attempt to plumb the depths of spiritual wisdom from a universal perspective. They include much Christian thought from the personal viewpoint of a woman, including an essay about a member of her congregation who, though shut-in, a stroke victim, taught her much about abundant spirit.
