Baby Stella

In keeping with yesterday’s post about The Butterfly Effect, I want to relate a conversation I had recently.

I spoke with Sue, one of our Practitioners about the mysteries of life, death, and existence.  She told me this (paraphrased):

“Bonnie, after [your dog] Stella died, your message changed.  You became more grounded in non-duality.  You started talking about darkness and light as One…So really, Stella  in her living and her dying, touched many lives in our congregation….”

There is a universal principle in Sue’s words.

Some might say that Stella was “just a dog.”

Yes, she was achingly special to our family.  But in the greater scheme of things, she was one dog among all dogs, one tiny speck in the universe.

Yet Stella’s presence mattered.  And somehow she changed lives while remaining innocent to her own importance. 

What if the same is true for you and me?  What if our existence is important? 

We may be “just human.”   We may feel small and unimportant.  But I suspect our frail and flawed lives have at least as much importance as Stella’s.  Our existence matters.

You matter.   

The world has breathed a sigh of relief because you are here….   

Edward Everett Hale wrote, “I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

What will you do today, now that you know how welcome and important you are? 

Meditate – Breathe into a knowing of your own worth.

Practice – All day long, imagine how your small acts of goodness have the power to change the world in ways you will never know.  Live as if this truth is true.

Advanced Practice – Consider how the world is a better place because you are in it.  Then see how this consideration helps you recognize the importance of all beings.