Who Rescued Who

In letting go of pain, there is the problem/benefit of refilling the hole in the soul that pain leaves behind.  Of course, letting go means bringing in, vacuums being what they are and Rescue filling the Gap

I choose to fill that hole left behind with cat rescue.  That's why I so often write about cats.  But cats are not the only things needing rescue.  Warehoused people in old age homes need people who can bring animals for visits.  Libraries (in this era of firing librarians) are in need to volunteers to continue the good work of restoring books to their proper places on the shelves and identifying books that belong to other libraries or which need repair.  Truck-N-Paws (a volunteer group committed to moving cats and dogs from kill shelters to sanctuaries) need people to drive a small distance to make a great amount of change.

And then there are the usual and not so usual suspects--from the Red Cross to training dogs for search and rescue, to supporingt public radio and public television or supporting animal relief.  Then there is the Guttenberg Project which rescues books that are out of copyright and can be typed and uploaded onto the internet.  And it is free to anyone who wants to work on it.  Volunteering at soup kitchens or hospitals or libraries gets people out of their homes and into contact with other people.  Even going for a walk to the local store can bring you into contact with school kids or people who are walking their dogs or just watching the birds and squirrels in the area.

There are so many ways to give back in gratitude for not having to let pain run our lives anymore.

Judaism believes that when you kill someone,  you kill a whole universe.  And the obverse as well.  When you save someone, you save a universe.  That is my fundamental belief in rescue.  A bumper sticker I saw yesterday said it all.  "Who rescued Who"  And  that is why rescue continues to be so important to me.  Rescue can mean many things other than animals.    Letting beauty come into the space formerly occupied by pain is one of the most powerful medicines I know.

One of the most beautiful lines I ever read is consistently in Tony Hillerman's mysteries and is a Navaho greeting.  "Walk in beauty."  I try.

Until we all know peace, Know peace