Question:
Regarding your column "Dogs follow human to the afterlife," I have the following story: Years ago we owned a standard poodle named Heidi. After my mother's death, my father lived with my husband and me for some time. Since we both worked and my father was home alone with the dog, my father and Heidi bonded very much.
About three weeks after my father's death, I was doing something in our bedroom. Heidi rested on the foot-end of the bed. Suddenly I had the feeling somebody had entered the room, but I could not see anything. Heidi stared at the entrance to the room, slowly got up, jumped off the bed and very slowly walked toward the entrance, head extended and sniffing loudly into the air. At the entrance Heidi stopped, sniffed and suddenly wagged her tail -- like she was greeting somebody. Then she sat down, holding her head up like somebody was petting her. I knew it was my father who had come to say "goodbye."
K.D., Stratford, CT Nov 21, 2010
Answer:
I greatly appreciate you sharing this account of Heidi's apparent alerting and greeting a presence she could sense. It is through reports of animals' reactions such as you describe that we may get a glimpse through the prism of our material existence of the metaphysical realm of being and non-being, enduring love being one of the keys that opens the doors of perception.
I receive many letters like yours, and others relating to the empathosphere, which some skeptical readers either do not feel are appropriate or complain about because they feel that this column should deal exclusively with health-care issues and behavioral problems. However, the content of this column is determined principally on the basis of the number of similar letters I receive that relate to a common topic rather than on some issue or concept that I may wish to publicize or personally promote. Part of our healing as a culture is linked to the healing and well-being of animals -- be they companion or therapy/assistance animals, or the billions who are propagated worldwide for food and other commercial purposes. An integral aspect of this healing process is recognition of the power of love, as compassionate action and kind concern for all living beings. Animals show us something of this kind of love in their trust and devotion. They can and do share, as per the many letters I receive like yours, an empathic, spiritual bond with humans. To acknowledge the importance of addressing their spiritual presence and well-being, as with human patients in busy, depersonalizing hospital settings, is an essential aspect of proper care and recuperation.
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