Meet Greta
Good afternoon, friends!
We have been thinking of all of you as we continue these days of staying home and social distancing. Our prayer is that you are staying healthy and enjoying each day.
As many of you know, a few weeks ago, we had to say goodbye to our nearly 13-year-old Great Pyrenees Jackson. We were happy to have the opportunity to be with him as he passed and will always remember him with love and gratitude.
Before he passed, we were thinking of getting a puppy to see if that might liven Jackson up a bit. Unfortunately, he left us too soon.
Last week, we decided to go ahead with our plans to add another dog to the clan – deciding on a rescue instead of a puppy. Sadly, all over the world, dog owners are abandoning their dogs due to the coronavirus, believing their dogs will transmit the illness to them. Many shelters are filling up and dogs are being dumped in places where owners believe others will step in and care for the dogs they are abandoning.
We read about this and decided to search online to see what dogs were available in our area. One immediately caught our eye. We called the shelter, made the arrangements and, after not leaving our home for over two weeks, donned our masks and set out to adopt a sweet Australian Shepherd mix. The dear pup has been in four different shelters over the last four months and someone in one of the shelters named her Greta. We think this name fits her perfectly!
Estimated to be about one and a half years old, no one knows Greta’s history. It doesn’t seem that she was abandoned because of the virus. She was found outside Aneth, Utah in early January with her four little puppies – before coronavirus was known to be here in the US. She clearly has never lived in a home and is afraid of people, yet she feels comfortable with other dogs. It is obvious to all who have cared for her since January that she has had a tough life and not everyone has been kind to her.
We’ve spent the last few days trying to help her to calm down . . . and this is surely going to take a while. She shakes when she sees us, and if we come close, she runs away.
Since Greta’s arrival to the Dirty Dog Ranch, aka our home, we have talked about what we have learned as students of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and how it relates to Greta’s journey through life so far. She has been lost, filled with fear, and feels alone – many of us feel no different. She is now safe and surrounded by love, as we are surrounded by the love of our Creator. Unbeknownst to her, she has begun her healing journey – and we are doing that as well.
Our discussions prompted us to to begin looking at Greta’s life through the lens of ACIM. For those of you unfamiliar with ACIM, it is the most beautiful teaching we have ever encountered because it is centered on experiencing love, acceptance, and peace. It can be studied along with your own religion or spiritual practice if you have one, and also if you don’t. It takes us on the journey from fear to love and helps us to learn to choose love in every moment.
We’ve been students of ACIM for six years now, and every day as we do our lessons we are reminded once again that there IS love – in all its various forms – everywhere. Sometimes, love is disguised as a call for love, yet underneath our fear, there truly is only love.
Until next time,
Annette and Ada