what can a simple rabbit teach us about tolerance?

 in memory of Bunny....

 Life. Humans make it seem so difficult! Ever since the days of the Old Testament, humans have fought one another...for what? Status? Power? Greed? Wealth? Yes, all that and more. Jealousy, control, favoritism, pride...

God sent us His Son to show us who and what He is all about and to admonish us to follow His example. There are apparitions of the Blessed Mother, Mary as well as angels to remind us of that slice of heaven that awaits us all, yet many refuse to believe...or maybe believe too much. Churches break off from each other and new ones formed, all because someone has a better idea of running things than someone else. Rules are made, then later found that they were made to be broken, flounced, ridiculed, mocked and so on.

Into the fray of all of this come unlikely pairings of animals. Pairings that teach us that perhaps our ideas of power, greed, jealousy are all wrong. In the book of Isaiah, we are told that the lion shall lay with the lamb...

 

  "...And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.…" Is 11:6

A friend of mine had such a pairing. OK, it was a springer spaniel dog and a plump, pet rabbit. But the dog was known to kill squirrels, rabbits, anything that could be found raiding the garden was fair game to her. Yet, for some reason, this little bunny was spared. They ate together, slept together, played together. This morning, I found out that little Bunny passed on. And I am all choked up about it. I have never met Bunny, nor Piper the spaniel, and that is OK. Their owner has kept a nice journal through a website as well as social media about the antics of this unlikely pair. I would smile and reminisce about my own days when I had rabbits and dogs and cats. I thought about how animals can teach us so much about maybe giving up that lust for greed, power, control and instead, be friends. It doesn't matter what color we are, our body size, our backgrounds and breeding. What does matter is that we are all one on this planet. We all breathe air, we all drink water, we ALL bleed red. Man, beast...we all feel pain, we all have known joy...and we all will pass on from this life into another at some point. What matters is what we do between the birth part and the dying part. How have we made a difference in the world? What memories will others have of you? Will they be good ones? Bad ones? Will anyone remember you at all? What footprint have you left behind? Are those footprints worthy of being followed?

I think of the simplicity of a relationship between a dog and a rabbit and I smile. It is in the small things of life that have the greatest meaning. For me, it is how a little Bunny and a springer spaniel dog took joy in each other, if only for a short period of time.
And God smiled at His creatures and was pleased.