It was a warm, sunny, Spring morning. I had just finished driving my son to the sheltered workshop which had just reopened after being closed on and off for over a year due to the Covid 19 pandemic. I was rushing back home, zipping along the mountain roads that I know so well, with a thousand thoughts on my mind, with a ton of wishes and worries bouncing around my brain. I wouldn’t say that I was speeding but I wasn’t driving as safely as I normally do either. Suddenly, I saw a dark form in the road ahead. I stepped on the brakes and saw that it was a big, black dog standing right in the road. I stomped down on the brakes harder and came to a full stop. The dog just stood there looking at me in a strange sort of way. Then he shook his head disapprovingly and walked slowly off the asphalt and up into the woods.

I drove away slowly wondering about that dog. Then for the first time that day I noticed the sunshine glowing off the light green leaves of the trees. I noticed the thousands of buttercups blooming along the side of the road. I noticed the butterflies floating above them. I noticed the birds soaring in the sky. For the first time that day I felt the Love of our Creator and felt the happiness of Heaven while still here on Earth. I drove on with a clear mind and a warm heart thanking God for sending that Divine dog to slow me down and to wake me up.

Looking back now I see I needed that reminder. I was getting too lost in my own life again to notice the real LIFE all around me. I needed to see again that life is short and I shouldn’t rush through it. I needed to see that life is precious and I should cherish every second of it. I needed to see that life is beautiful and I should welcome that beauty into my heart, mind, and soul. I needed to see that life is LOVE. Life is God’s LOVE expressed in a trillion different ways. May you enjoy every second of it and may you add your own love to it as well.