In the course of a too-busy day, it’s easy to forget to pause for a healing moment of heartfelt thanksgiving. Nothing can bring us back to hope and harmony quicker than a moment’s reflection on the abundance in our lives. When I need honest examples of what thanksgiving looks like, smells like, and feels like, I turn to my animal family. In the daily lives of animals, we can observe gratitude and thanksgiving in their purest, sometimes most startling forms. Animals are exemplary teachers of simple appreciation. With their expressive faces and bodies, they perform a profound and delicate dance of daily thanksgiving that we would do well to emulate. Our animal companions exhibit genuine and innocent delight at a simple sunbath, a succulent table scrap, or a human companion’s return at the end of a work day. This appreciation for simple gifts, which animals so freely display, is the true heart of thanksgiving. I heard a story recently in which a parakeet taught his human partner a powerful lesson in gratitude. Bertie lived in a rather ordinary bird cage, with only a few toys, a cracked mirror, and a stick of celery or apple for a daily treat. When Bertie’s owner was confined to bed in her cramped, old apartment because of an extended illness, she discovered she had more than ample time to feel sorry for her circumstances---and to witness the daily antics of her bird. "Twice a day, without fail, Bertie would tour his cage," she said. "In front of each toy or object, he would stop and bob up and down excitedly, singing his joy-song to every item. There was no mistaking his pleasure and gratitude over his good fortune. I began thinking of my unhappiness, and realized it was time to sing my own joy-songs of gratitude. I began to look around and realize the blessings I did have, but had been unable to see, like good friends, a mother close by, a safe place to live." Bertie’s daily ritual of thanksgiving transformed the life of his human friend: "I began living my life differently, prodded by Bertie’s example. It took my parakeet’s joy over his own wealth to show me my own." Bertie’s story reminded me of the thanksgiving ritual Arrow, my Collie-mix, enacts over her food bowl each evening. After she has eaten the first few bites of her meal, she will look back over her shoulder at me and "smile" with her eyes. Her head bows down, her plume tail wags in a slow swish, and she holds my gaze for just a moment before returning to her dinner. The look of her in those moments is one of complete contentment and gratitude. So total is her focus in that instant, it seems as though she is not showing thanksgiving. Rather, she is thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not about saying grace, the animals seem to tell us. It is about living grace. A life filled with daily, healing moments of simple gratitude is a worthy goal, a goal animals like Bertie, Arrow, and millions of others can lead us to by their gentle, loving examples.
Susan Chernak McElroy is the Best Selling author of Animals as Teachers and Healers: True Stories and Reflections. Her work explores the sacredness, specialness, and vital importance of our relationship with the animal kingdom. If you would like to share your own animal story, or if you would like information on McElroy’s seminars, audio tapes, or her quarterly newsletter, please write to her at Brightstar Farm, P.O. Box 13501, Jackson, WY 83002.
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