Sunday, November 2, 2008

Small things

It's amazing how small things tug at our hearts. Little children, baby animals all yank on those heart strings when we confront them. I can be in the crummiest mood and see a baby or puppy or kitten and ah, there's a smile. Somehow I can't keep it in.

Perhaps it's because they're so obviously helpless. Even cross-species as in the picture above, the mature animal understands that vulnerability. My daughter's dog nursed three kittens who ended up in her home before they were really ready to be weaned. It was pretty odd to watch them all snuggled up against her belly.

I think that we also appreciate the innocence of the very young. We both yearn for and fear that innocence because we know all the pitfalls in the life ahead. Don't we vow to protect them as long as possible? Doesn't the heart squeeze when we think of anything hurting them?

I think that God gives us small things to keep us from becoming too cold, too full of pride, too lonely. I know my own experience when after many years of feeling angry and resentful, God sent me a tiny granddaughter to live in my home. The thing was, there was so much love for her that it squeezed out those negative feelings.

So on this second day of November, let us be thankful for the small things around us.

anny

7 comments:

  1. Where are the men with the big muscles? I feel gypped

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  2. How true. When I am depressed or frustrated I play with my granddaughters and forget my problems. Nice blog, Anny.

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  3. Ahh, to the picture and the blog, Anny. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. S'why I love my cat. She's mostly out of the way doing her own thing, but every once in a while she comes over for a scratch. Usually, she knows when I'm down and she's got perfect timing.

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  5. Little ones remind us of what is really important. Our need to care for others replaces more self-serving desires.

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  6. This is why you are the Zen Queen. Thanks, Anny.

    (We also had a dog who raised some kittens. She didn't nurse them--we bottle fed them--but she did all the gross tummy licking stuff.)

    Babies have never done it for me, but I think I missed a station in the soul factory, and Quality Control didn't catch it. Thankfully, there are people like you to make sure the world works the way it's supposed to.

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  7. Loved the picture and the sentiment. I did read once that babies do actually trigger something in us because of the universal "baby" traits.

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