Puppies and prayer shawls

Image a following quote from 'Baby animals' blog.

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Sugar (pictured above) is a white boxer puppy. She is deaf and to complicate matters she was left at the door of animal control facility with a broken leg. Fortunately, a vet was in the parking lot in a mobile van used to spay and neuter and took Sugar into his care. If she had crossed the door at animal control, her fate would have been to be put to sleep immediately because of her injury. Sugar made her way to Atlanta Pet Rescue where her injuries were treated, as you can see her cast. Sugar has healed completely and has been adopted since this image was taken.

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This morning as I was leaving a local elementary school, I was greeted by a gangly white with a few black spots boxer puppy. He was very friendly and proceeded to follow me as I walked through the parking lot. He looked very thin, in need and had some abrasions around his feet, ears and mouth. I looked at this shivering puppy at my feet and decided that the least I could do was get him out of the cold and contact the Humane Society. I took a prayer shawl I had in the trunk of my car and wrapped him up in it as he leaned into my arms and chest. Just as I was about to place him all bundled into the passenger seat of my car; I heard someone shout,"PUPPY!".

I stopped short, and shouted back - "Did you loose your dog?" A woman and her child came walking towards me. They had a piece of rope for a leash and said, "Yes, it's our dog." I told the woman I was about the call the Humane Society, because the dog was in rough shape and looked like he needed some care. Se said, " Well, I just got him last night and his litter mates had beat him up."

It seemed to be a weird explanation and I definitely do not think it was the whole story, but what was I going to do? So, I reluctantly unbundled the puppy and handed him back to his owner. He looked at me with his big eyes as if to say, "What on earth do you think you are doing!"

But, as I got into my car, he did go willingly with the woman and her little girl. He didn't look back after she placed the rope collar around his neck. However, I could not stop looking in my rear-view mirror wondering what his life would be like and thinking that I should have left my prayer shawl with him. It was such a cold morning.

People can be a lot like the thin puppy I saw at the school. Sometimes the needs that people have are not as obvious as that dogs were; but in our souls we can be hungry, our litter-mates can do some damage, and our packs can be dodgy.

I wonder if God ever feels about his children as I did driving away this morning: "How far do they have to walk before they can get inside somewhere warm?", " Is someone going to make sure he's ok?", "Is he happy there?", and " "I wish I was more involved his life."

As my story shows, the heart of a person can become attached to a dog very quickly. How much more, then, does G-d love each one of us? I often think G-d gives us contact with children and animals to help remind us of how precious all his creations are.

How have you experienced the chill of life?
How have you been wrapped in warmth, prayer and found by God?

May you always have a prayer shawl ready and may you never hesitate to give it away...

What has been G-d's bread for you today?

Responsible Bread

I've been begun reading the book "The breath of the soul" by Joan Chittister with a group of friends for the last few weeks and have greatly enjoyed the space for spiritual fresh air it's been providing.

The chapters of this book are very short (2-3 pages at most), but Ms. Chittister - like always - fills each page with rich, hopeful and meaningful content. This last week's reading was based on the theme of responsibility in our prayer lives. Sometimes in prayer, I know I can become myopic - only seeing the needs closest to me and often losing sight of the big picture. Ms. Chittister says in her book,

"Prayer is not meant to make us into a world unto ourselves. We do not pray in order to escape the world around us. We pray with one eye on the world so that we can come to understand what is really being asked of us here and now, at times like this, as co-creators of the universe."

There are many ways to get more involved in community and world improving efforts, but sometimes due to the amble needs; it is difficult to sort out just where to step in and assist. The mantra for the devotion on responsibility is : God, give me the grace to "till and keep" the part of the world you have given into my care.

In relation to the bread of this week and reflecting upon responsibility I came upon a common point of focus. I see areas of need and fail to respond due to the sheer quantity of needs within my own limited vision. God's perspective is unbelievably vast, and yet the bread of his love and grace are continually offered individually to me. Humanity is bound in relationship with each other and we are called to care for each other as God cares for us. We need to see the big picture, and not be paralyzed by the multitudes of needs and attend to each small one as it comes to the surface of our particular perspective. It could be something as simple as checking in on an elderly neighbor, asking a friend out to lunch and listening well to their life story, or it could be organizing a neighborhood clean-up. No matter our place in life, we all can find at least one way of helping to restore wholeness.

Our position in responsibility is not a fixed state. Sometimes we are the one giving bread and sometimes we are the one receiving it. Have you been on the receiving end of another person's responsible act? Have you been the giver to someone else? What place is it easier for you to be: giving or receiving?

It is a true reminder by Joan Chittister that, "We must learn to pray with more than ourselves in mind." I'd like to think that when it's all said and done, I will have lived a life that was active in propagating the higher effort of helping to establish more "on earth as it is in heaven". May I remember the bread of help I've received and be motivated to serve and pray with both my eyes wide open for heaven opportunities.



God blessed them and said, "Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the earth - and be responsible for it! Watch over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all living things on the earth!"
Genesis 1:28

How do you do it?

Sleeping with Bread is a Monday meme. You can participate in one of two ways: 1) Pick one of the above examen question sets and answer it in the comments section of my SWB post; or, 2) Create your own Sleeping with Bread post. You are welcome to right click on the Sleeping with Bread button and save it to your own computer before uploading into your post. Then, make sure you come back and put the link to your post in the automated Mr. Linky form at the end of the current SWB post. I hope you will join me and my fellow bakers as we Sleep with Bread on Mondays!

Where's the lip balm?

"But, my lips hurt real bad!" - Napoleon Dynamite



You may have seen this quirky film a few years ago, or maybe not, but I think everyone can relate to the scene where Napoleon is stuck in school with no chap-stick and is calling home to see if his brother can drop it off for him. Chapped lips are horrible nuisance. No, they are not life-threatening - but annoying, distracting and painful.

Have you ever misplaced your lip balm when you need it the most? It's an impossible thing for me, especially this time of year, to be without a tube of lip balm in my pocket. I have a couple favorite brands of lip balm: Burt's Bee's Peppermint and Thistle Farm's Tuscan Earth. The first is soothing because of the Peppermint and the second has a sort of sweet herbal fragrance and heals chapped lips amazingly fast. Once I applied the Thistle Farms Balm while in a waiting room, and a six-year-old boy walked in, sat down next to me and happily exclaimed, "What is that yummy smell?"



There were a few days this last week, that I forgot to apply my lip balm before heading outside into the February cold, and after those few days I was becoming painfully aware of my swollen and rough bottom lip. I'd lost one of my Burt's Bees lip balms to my dog, who has a strange attraction to peppermint and had literally eaten it. It appears my dog has a favorite lip balm too!

When I relocated another tube of that soothing salve, I was relived because my lips were immediately cooled. I had to be diligent in re-applying the balm, as my whole body seemed to be thirsty for the moisture. Eventually, the burn stopped the mint calmed and the thistle healed what was so painfully sore.

There is a song I learned years ago in high school chorus that has stayed in my mind and I often find myself singing when things in life are leaving me feeling sort of "chapped". There are many times in life that "I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain," but I need to be reminded that, " then the Holy Spirit, revives my hope again."

So as we share this weeks bread, think of it from the perspective of lip balm. What are the things that caused you to feel "chapped" this week? What are the lip balm - Gilad - moments that cooled, refreshed and healed?"

I'm thankful to G-d for the balm that is poured into our lives. I'm thankful to you for sharing your life and bread here at this blog. May you never have chapped lips, "That hurt real bad", but if you do - I pray that your lip balm is just a pocket or a prayer away.



Here are the complete lyrics to the two versions of There is a balm in Gilead s found on wikipedia:

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

(Chorus)

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

[edit] Alternate Lyrics


There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my hope again.

(Chorus)

If you cannot sing like angels,
If you can’t preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

How do you do Sleeping with Bread?

Sleeping with Bread is a Monday meme. You can participate in one of two ways: 1) Pick one of the above examen question sets and answer it in the comments section of my SWB post; or, 2) Create your own Sleeping with Bread post. You are welcome to right click on the Sleeping with Bread button and save it to your own computer before uploading into your post. Then, make sure you come back and put the link to your post in the automated Mr. Linky form at the end of the current SWB post. We hope you will join in with the fellow bakers as we Sleep with Bread on Mondays!