In uncertain times, we look to the wisdom of our elders, our sages and our most cherished teachers to help us understand or at least cope with what frightens or bewilders us. For many years, I cherished the wisdom of Wolfie, the magnificent Siberian Husky named for my Grandma, who blessed me with her wisdom and companionship, and her deep, abiding love. Wolfie taught me many things: fidelity, authenticity, trust, forgiveness, gratitude, great magnanimity. She taught me to let go and enjoy! Walking was our special time, our sacred bond with our pack and all creation, and we walked together almost every single day. I learned so much from her in seventeen years!
Especially, Wolf taught me to put my senses at the disposal of creation, to plant my nose in tree roots, to saturate myself in clear, running streams, to keen for my pack, to drink fully of the sacred moon and to rest deeply in the embrace of love. She danced exuberantly and meditated constantly. Her love was not miserly, meted out in dribs and drabs. And it was NEVER phony. It was totally genuine, intense, indiscriminate and all-consuming. Where love was concerned, she taught me to color outside the lines. Mostly, she taught me to “walk slowly and bow often,” as the great poetess Mary Oliver admonished. There is so much wonder and awe to be found in just paying attention.
Today, Wolfie’s heart beats in mine. When she died last September, Betty Daugherty, FSPA, another profound model and wisdom figure, embraced me and said, “When someone dies who we love this much, we want to crawl into the grave with them … But you must go on. You must live—and love—more fully, because she lives on in you.” Now that Betty has died, along with Tara from our Prairiewoods community, I take great comfort from those words, and know that it is our communion of saints, our big “WE,” ALL our relations who walk us through this time of PanDeepening. We are not alone, never alone. We are completely surrounded. Wolfie still walks with me, and will walk with me all the way home. Who is still walking you home?
—Laura Weber, Prairiewoods associate-director and retreats coordinator