Small Things, Great Love

Sometimes I wish I could do more.  Actually, I wish that a lot.  It feels to me like I am not really doing enough to help people.  Sure, I am very friendly, and I am kind of cute (they tell me), and I do give a lot of love to people in my own way.  But is that enough?  There are so many people I see who have big problems – serious health problems, emotional troubles, financial stress, spiritual despair, and much more.  I don’t think that anyone – especially not a small beige dog like me – could make enough of a difference.  It makes me sad to think this way sometimes, like maybe there is no point to do anything at all. 

Whenever this feeling comes up, my Mom tells me that she used to think this way too, when she was younger.  Until she read something which helped to change her perspective completely;  it was something that Mother Teresa once said: 

“We can do no great things—only small things with great love.”

Mom tells me that I might not change someone’s life in a huge way, but then again, who knows?  Maybe a lot of small things—done with great love—can add up to a much bigger effect than we can imagine.   The power is in the great love that goes into each small thing that we do.  

So each morning, before we walk into the hospital to do our healing work, Mom looks to me and says, “Shamzi, let’s go in there and do our small things with great love!”  And I look up at her, nod my head, and wag my tail very affirmatively.

Small things become great things, when they are done with great love.   

   

Bedtime Poetry: Give Me Your Paw

I love poetry.  My Mom does, too--I think she got that from me. Every night before I sleep, my  Mom reads a poem to me, and then we are silent together for a while as we feel the meaning of the poem in our hearts.  Some poems touch my heart and my spirit like nothing else can.  I have even memorized a few of my favorites, and I like to recite them in my head when I feel the need. 

One of my favorites is this one here, by Rilke. I love the idea that God gives us these instructions as we are being made.  And that a big part of our job is sometimes to "flare up like flame", and at other times to “just keep going”.  And that “no feeling is final.”  And that we are not alone in the journey of life’s experiences, if we let ourselves feel connected to a larger and universal spirit of Love, which some people call God.  The only thing I would change about this poem is that the last line should read “Give me your paw.”   

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
 then walks with us silently out of the night.

 These are words we dimly hear:

 You, sent out beyond your recall,
 go to the limits of your longing.
 Embody me.

 Flare up like flame
 and make big shadows I can move in.

 Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
 Just keep going.  No feeling is final.
 Don't let yourself lose me.

 Nearby is the country they call life.
 You will know it by its seriousness.

 Give me your hand.  

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

Listening With Love

People often talk to me, telling me how handsome I am, how sweet I am, and so on.  I enjoy these talks very much.   Sometimes though, people will talk to me, I mean really talk to me.  I used to spend a lot of time with one nice man at the hospital, who really connected with me.  He had a lot of problems, not just physical ones, and he was trying to put his broken life back together.  Each day, after my Mom would visit and place me on his bed, I would get cozy and lie down in the space between his crossed legs, rest my chin on him, and he would stroke my head and talk quietly to me.  He shared things about himself —dark secrets—that he had never told another soul.  Bad things he had done in his life, people he had hurt, acts that he was very ashamed of.  And he talked about how he was going to change and be a better man, starting now.  Most times, tears leaked out of his eyes as he talked to me.  One time, he sobbed.      One day my Mom visited him alone, and he shared about our talking visits.  He said that he talked to me because he felt that I actually listened, and that I actually understood, and (most importantly)  that I actually loved him anyway.  And the truth is, I actually did.  I couldn’t tell him in words, but with my eyes and my touch, I expressed unconditional love and compassion to him.  

My Mom believes that I was the best therapy for this nice man, who had many troubles weighing on his heart and his soul. And I think all of us animals can be good therapy for lots of humans. I think people like to talk to animals because we don’t—we can’t—talk back. And, even if we could talk, we wouldn’t say things like “how could you?”  or “I told you so!”  We don’t judge or disapprove or criticize.  We don’t get bored or impatient.     We only listen with quiet acceptance and forgiveness.  And with unconditional love.   

Fresh Eyes

There is a nice lady who keeps forgetting things and people.  I think this condition is called “dementia.”  But she is not bothered by it, which is good. I am not bothered either.  She sees me freshly every time.  Each day that she sees me, she raises her arms up in the air and runs toward me, yelling “OH! There’s a doggie! Look, it’s a cute little puppy!” And each time, my Mom holds me up to her so she can pet my head, and then places me on her lap.  She and my Mom have exactly the same conversation every day, while I sit on the nice lady’s lap, graciously receiving her compliments and love:

Nice lady:  “What’s his name?!?” (pat, pat, pat)

Mom: “His name is Shamzi, or Shammy.”

Nice lady: “Shammy! That’s a great name! Is he a boy or a girl?”

Mom: “He’s a boy!”

Nice lady: “How old is he?”

Mom: “I think he’s about 2 or 3 years old.”

Nice lady: “Oh he is so handsome!  (pat, pat, pat)  I think he likes me!”

Mom: “Yes! I can tell that he likes you very much!”

I make myself comfortable on her lap, while the nice lady tells me and my Mom the same things each time: how she used to have a dog when she was younger and his name was Buddy; how she had 12 cats when she lived under the freeway and they kept her warm; and how she always feeds the pigeons half of any piece of bread she ever has because “little birds get hungry too.”  I enjoy her exuberance when she talks about all of us animals with such love.   I do like her very much.  I find that her spirit is gentle and loving, even if her brain is forgetful.    My Mom always smiles and nods affirmatively, as though it is the first time they are having this conversation.  But the experience between them (and me) is exactly the same, every time she sees me.   Word for word.    Pat for pat.  People feel sorry for her forgetfulness.   But Mom told me that she thinks this nice lady might actually be such a happy person because of her forgetfulness—she forgets to be bored.  She sees everything and everyone with fresh eyes and with enthusiasm.   And wouldn’t life be much more fun for us all, if we didn’t take things and people for granted -- if we actually stopped to look, to notice, and to experience each one so happily, as if every time were the first time.   This is what we dogs do, all the time.  But it’s not because we are forgetful.  We are just born with this kind of wisdom.  Ask any dog.  

On Depression

Sometimes patients don’t want to talk to my Mom, even though she’s a really nice and caring doctor, because they’re not happy about being sick or being in the hospital.  I don’t blame them.  One nice man was so depressed he wouldn’t even look at my Mom, no matter how hard she tried to talk to him about his treatment.  He was supposed to have physical rehabilitation to walk again, but he didn’t seem to care about anything.   He just lay in bed all the time.  Out of desperation Mom brought in the big guns.  That’s right--me!   She carried me into his room and asked if he liked dogs.  That got his attention.  He turned in his bed, and when he saw me, he cried out “Puppy!” and clapped his hands like a little boy.  The change in him was amazing.  I sat on his bed as he pet my head and hugged me.  He told my Mom how much he loved dogs, and how much he missed his dog that had died.  Every day my Mom brought me to visit him, and little by little he opened up about his life outside of the hospital.  They talked a lot about dogs (my favorite subject, naturally).  I guess I reminded him of the person he used to be, before he became sick.  Pretty soon he said he needed to walk again, because he wanted a dog in his life.  Mom promised him that when he was ready, she and I would take him to the SPCA to adopt a new friend.  He did learn to walk again, and we went to the SPCA, though he didn’t go home with a dog on that first visit.  After all, you can’t always be as lucky as my Mom, who found me on the first visit.  Or should I say, I found her.  (“Our eyes met across a crowded room”…but that’s a story for another day.)  I know the nice man will find the right dog and when he does, they will be very happy, like my Mom and me.

Keeping Her Vision

My Mom is always looking for out for me and doing things that are “for my own good.”  This includes clipping my nails and brushing my teeth.  I don’t enjoy the torture, but afterwards she calls me an angel boy and feeds me a chicken snack.  That’s worth a little discomfort.  I think patients would like their medication better if someone called them sweet names and gave out rewards too.   One of my Mom’s patients has glaucoma and needs eye drops several times a day.  The nice lady always refuses because she doesn’t like the eye drops (cold and goopy, yuck).  But she likes having me visit her.  I jump on to her bed and snuggle into her blankets, while she and my Mom chat, mostly about things outside of the skilled nursing facility.  The nice lady really likes dogs.  When my Mom mentions the eye drops, the nice lady becomes upset and says she doesn’t want them.  My Mom points out to the nice lady that her eye sight will get worse without the drops.  This makes no difference.  Then my Mom asks, “Don’t you want to be able to see Shamzi?”  As if on cue, I flop on to my back and expose my tummy, ramping up the cuteness factor.  Suddenly the importance of eye drops becomes ridiculously clear.  The nice lady agrees.  Blink, blink.  All done!  Then we play again.  Sometimes patients just want to be treated like people first.  Then they can be reminded about all the good things that medicine can do, and all of the beautiful sights in the world (like me!).  Offering a chicken snack doesn’t hurt either.