THE INSPIRED PATH | Animal Tenderness

I experienced the Living School and completed my 2 years in 2016. It was a great time and I got to be with Fr. Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault and my favorite teacher, James Finley, Ph.D. It w

In the Tenderness teachings I reacted to those things mostly where I felt the connection with Dr. Jim’s teachings. Mostly to be loved and listened to. Vanier talked about our deepest desire is to be appreciated and loved. That we don’t know what to do with our own pain and that we need to welcome our weakness. Vanier talked about not being able to explain everything. And I was moved by Dr. Jim’s mention of being evermore solitary. Solitude meaning: “I’m less and less able to explain myself to myself. Like look what’s become of me. … in that solitude I’ll experience the kinship of this recognition of each other on the way.” I am so moved in Jim’s teaching and sharing about “ .. that the more grounded we are in this mystical prophesy, the more compassionate response to the suffering world becomes the imperative of our awakened heart. .. more we are moved then to a heightened sensitivity to suffering within our self and others. … and moved to respond.” I have felt this sense I believe. I felt like an intuitive understanding, an energy and sometimes unspoken felt sense. I have experienced this with people but also with animals. Animals are quantumly entangled with us as well, I know this. Can this same healing and response be strongly triggered in and through animals? Sometimes it is so strong I will cry in just looking at an animal that doesn’t even look hurt outwardly. But the love I feel is so strong. Any response around this would be appreciated. Am I, in a sense, that animal? ThanksMy pets and noticing animals are in my earliest memories. I think before I can remember my brother had a dog that followed him to the bus. There was often turmoil in my home when I was young. My parents were in survival mode with their habits, behavior and out of control living. I would hide in the dirty clothes hamper with my dog. I was safe and loved there. Animals have shown me many things through my life experience. I still often feel most understood and loved with the animals and in nature. Most likely many of you have been impacted by animals and nature in some personal way. While in my Living School Experience I realized that this love of animals and nature was more than just that. I realized that my love of animals and noticing them, listening to them, really seeing them was my practice. Contemplating what I see in the animals has helped my healing in all ways. This understanding has also helped me in the world with being a parent, a healing individual to be with others and as a Spiritual Director. I listen and start present and remembering these experiences with the animals. Physically, psychologically, energetically ... all ways :). I plan on sharing my own simple photos and videos that I have collected over years in which I found healing and amazement in trying to understand how deeply I am connected with the animal that I am observing and what it has to teach me. What is it that I learn about my vulnerability to the God of Love when I share emotions and feelings about the animal? Many times I would be amazed that I got to witness the things that I have experienced. I suggest that if you want to take in what healing gift is there in your animal communication take note of what you hear, see or feel and come back to that throughout your day. Be present to your shared energy in that moment.for your love and teachings. What a gift.

Jim's response:

I’ll share what came to me in reading Linda’s question here about tenderness. I think I shared this in my reflection to them, I can’t remember if I used this as the example. But she mentions (Jean) Vanier and L’Arche and about compassion.

There’s a lovely interview Christian Tippet has with Vanier on the pedagogy of compassion. It’s very moving, in the archives there. But I think that’s why she’s mentioning Vanier so I think this is the example I want to use to tie into Linda’s question.

The example that I give, is for me … is … I was leading a silent retreat and the priest who was presiding at liturgy said that he worked with developmentally challenged children. And, he said one of the things that they do there in the program is the parents bring their son or daughter in and they sit off on the side and the teacher is helping their child. The teacher does with the child a kind of a game. The game is: the teacher puts a quarter on the table and asks the child is the quarter there? And they can see the quarter, they’ll say yes. And so the teacher then sits an empty glass, transparently, on top of the quarter and the child can see the quarter through the glass. The teacher will ask is the quarter there? The child will say yes.

The teacher will then pour water in the glass and then with the refractions of the light you can’t see the water. And the teacher will ask the child: is the quarter still there and the teacher will say no. So as (Jean) Piagét would say, the child doesn’t have object constancy at a very early stage of development – that is if they can’t see it they don’t it’s there. So the teacher in this kind of playful (game like) way will lift it up – lift the glass up – show the child it’s there and pour the water back into the pitcher … put the empty glass back on the quarter …as long as it’s there they’ll say yes. They’ll fill it up again with water. They know it’s there but if the child can’t see it they’ll say no it’s not there. They’ll first of all repeat this, over and over again in this kind of game with the child. At a certain point in the process – the person will pour the water into the glass and ask the child is the water there? Is the quarter there? And first of all the child says yes it’s there. Now for the parents who are watching – sitting off to the side – when their child says yes, they tear up, they tear up. And they tear up because of their love for their child. And they realize what a monumental leap this is for their child. Moving into a whole new kind of realm like right before their eyes. Like, they’re moved by it. And I think that’s tender hearted compassion

You know in psychology – in brain activity they make a distinction between the primitive brain at the base of the skull, the reptilian brain. The cerebellum, fight or flight; sleep / response; fear / anger and your survival process. Then there’s the cerebral cortex that covers the outer surface in front of the brain – this is the logical part where we think – have objective thoughts. And in between our objective part of our brain and flight and all that … there’s a / the limbic system. In the limbic system are millions and millions of neuro pathways that hold internalized images that stir with deep emotions that touch the survival. And I think what this question reminds me of is; sometimes when we read the mystics – one way of looking at it is that God touches us mystically in our limbic system. It says often in the gospels – there are stories in the gospels where it says Jesus was moved. It’ll say that Jesus wept. The tears … We might say that the tears of the parent watching their developmentally challenged child say the quarter is there … that their tears are the Presence of God. That’s how God loves us. Moved with tenderness toward the preciousness of ourselves as being hardly able to understand anything, really.
I mean from God’s point of view we’re all developmentally challenged. You know we can hardly figure out how to tie our shoe laces in the morning. I mean, what do we know really?

We’re deeply moved in a visceral intimate way in being profoundly loved by God in ways we cannot and do not need to understand. And this is tenderness. This is tenderness.
So the tears, the gift of this deep moving of the Presence of God’s loving Presence in our life.

And then Linda relates this to solitude. Because with solitude then is, is that we know not what to make of it. That is we’re less and less able to explain to anybody, including ourselves, what it is that’s happened. This is like, I know, that I know, that I know, that I know it. But I don’t know how it is that I know what I know. But I know that my heart knows it. Like my heart knows to be true what my conceptual mind cannot comprehend. And then this is – and this leaves us in solitude … in being able to communicate to anybody, including ourself. This deep heart knowledge ... How God’s infinite love for us, in Communion with us; which is the essence of the very core of the mystical knowledge.
Now we’re not saying here – we’re not reducing mystical knowledge to the limbic system. Or we’re not saying that mystical knowledge is simply a more, kind of, primitive pre-conceptual way of knowing. Rather we’re exploring maybe the infinite Love beyond (the) thought touches us in the limbic system in the pit of our stomach or in this total intimate sense of moving us. And in a secondary way we use words to stammer out or reflect on that moving or on that touching. So when we read John of the Cross or Teresa of Avila or we read these mystics you get the feeling that it’s kind of like sinking in the service of an unthinkable Love. That is the teaching of the mystics are clear conceptual teachings that are lighted by or illumined by this intimate Love that transcends and precedes the thoughts that are expressed on the paper. Which are spiritual teachings.

And then lastly, she brings in animals, into this. And when in mentioning animals I’m thinking of Columbus in Columba – on Iona in Ireland, the Irish mystic. And there’s a story about St. Columba when he’s dying …he was out in a field sitting there and dying. And when he died a horse came over and put his head in Columba’s lap and wept. And I think stories like this … St. Francis giving a sermon and talking to the wolf and giving sermons to birds... is that this limbic system? This kind of primordial visceral like infinity of God in the body; it somehow resonates and moves with the animals. That’s why we feel … Cardinal Newman once said Angels are easier for us to understand than animals because Angels are intelligent. But the animal is kind of a primitive presence. Like a deep presence that touches us that can’t be adequately thought of in / with intelligence.

And then this is the tie in into contemplation and compassion – social justice then becomes the imperative of our compassionate heart. This is we’re just moved to act or do something to relieve the suffering of the preciousness of that in us that’s unthinkable or ungraspable and so on. James Finley, Ph.D. 2016

Spend some time with this. Let it ruminate in your heart for the next time that the God of Love gives you to gift of engagement with an animal or animals.