Animal Blessing Service

Rev. Marisol Caballero
January 31, 2016
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

All creatures young, old, great and small, furry and scaly are invited to our annual intergenerational service honoring our beloved animal companions.

Call to Worship

“An Alphabet of Gratitude”
Rev. Gary Kowalski

We give thanks for the earth and its creatures, and are grateful from A to Z:
For alligators, apricots, acorns, and apple trees,
For bumblebees, bananas, blueberries, and beagles,
Coconuts, crawdads, cornfields, and coffee,
Daisies, elephants, and flying fish,
For groundhogs, glaciers, and grasslands,
Hippos and hazelnuts, icicles and iguanas,
For juniper, jackrabbits, and junebugs,
Kudzu and kangaroos, lightning bugs and licorice,
For mountains and milkweed and mistletoe,
Norwhals and nasturtiums, otters and ocelots,
For peonies, persimmons, and polar bears,
Quahogs and Queen Anne’s Lace,
For raspberries and roses,
Salmon and sassafras, tornadoes and tulipwood,
Urchins and valleys and waterfalls,
For X (the unknown, the mystery of it all!)
In every yak and yam;
We are grateful, good Earth, not least of all
For zinnias, zucchini, and zebras,

And for the alphabet of wonderful things that are as simple as ABC

Story for All Ages

“Thankful Dogs”
By Naomi King

Once there was and once there was not a family of dogs. Like many dog families, there were dogs that had wandered off the street and dogs with fine pedigrees and dogs from the shelter and dogs who had been born into the family. They ran together. They played together. They tumbled together in great furry masses of tails and snouts and paws. They loved each other very much-even if sometimes they growled at one another, even if sometimes they worried about enough biscuits from the tin on the counter, even if some dog didn’t feel good and snapped at another dog-they loved each other very much.

Each night as the moon rose, the family of dogs went outside and sat in a great circle on the soft grass and watched the moon rise and looked into each other’s eyes and wagged their tails. It was a doggy thing to do. Then, when the moon was a dog’s tail above the horizon, the eldest dog would bay loudly at the moon. And what do you think that dog was baying about?

The eldest dog was telling the other dogs and the moon and the whole world what he was thankful for. He was baying, “Thank you for this day! For the running and the jumping! Thank you for the biscuits and the tasty treats! Thank you little brown dog for nosing the ball my way! Thanks for being able to sing! Thanks for this and everything!”

Then the youngest dog would point her nose to the moon and begin to bay. And she was saying, “Thank you wonderful sun that warmed my back! Thank you fragrant frangipani so sweet! Thank you pack of dogs for wiggly dances! Thanks for the ringing ice cream truck! Thanks for this and all my luck!”

Then one dog after another would join the baying, saying their thanks, until they were singing together and to the moon. But they saved the best for last and howled together: “Thank you mother and thank you father! Thank you sister and thank you brother! Thank you neighbor and thank you friend! Thank you stranger and thank you world! We share our thanks for every being whether near or far, no matter who, no matter where, no matter what you are. THANKS!”

They did this no matter what the weather, no matter how many or how few of the family was home, no matter how they felt. The dog family gathered together each and every night to greet the moon and share their thanks! Let’s share their circle of gratitude:

Thank you mother and thank you father!
Thank you sister and thank you brother!
Thank you neighbor, thank you friend!
Thank you stranger, thank you world!
We share our thanks for every being whether near or far
no matter who, no matter where, no matter what you are!
THANKS!”

Prayer & Candle Lighting
By Thomas Rhodes

You Birds of the Air,
Hawk, Sparrow, and laughing Jay
You embody freedom itself,
delight us with your song, astound us with feats of migration
Grant us your perspective,
for too often our horizon is limited
and we are blind to the full results of our actions.

You Worms of the Earth,
Ants, Beetles, Spiders and Centipedes
You are the essential but oft-forgotten strand in nature’s web.
Through you the cycle is complete; through you new life arises from old.
Remind us of our humility.
For the wheel of live does not turn around us;
we are not the axle, but merely spokes
no less than unseen, unknown and shunned companions
such as yourselves.

You creatures of the field and wood and field, marsh and desert
Bear and Bison, Skunk and Squirrel, Weasel and Wolf
Too often we have sacrificed your homes in the name of progress,
clear cutting the forests to fill our desire,
or covering the earth with tarmac, cement, and suburban lawns.
Pray that we may remember that the earth was not given for our needs alone,
and what we do to you, we eventually do to ourselves.

You animals of the farm
Horse and cow, pig and fowl
Willingly or not, you give your very lives for us,
your milk for our nourishment, your flesh for our sustenance,
Yet too often we forget that the meat on our tables was once as alive as we are.
Forgive our willful ignorance,
and remind us constantly to give thanks for your sacrifice.

You Dearest Companions in our lives Dogs and Cats,
Hamsters and Goldfish
You who are with us today
and you who always be present in our memories
You have enriched our lives in so many ways
endured our shortcomings with calm acceptance
taught us something of our humanity
taught us how to love.
May we hold you in our hearts throughout the days of our lives.

Blessing

A Blessing isn’t a magical spell, but a way of showing love and saying thank you; taking time to say out loud what is important to us.

[pet’s name], Thank you for blessing me with the gift of your friendship.
You always know how to make me laugh and cheer me up when I’m sad.
I’m glad that you give me your love.
I promise that I will take care of you, in return.
I will feed you, bathe you, play with you,
Take you to the doctor when your sick,
Protect you, and give you the best life I can.
When the time comes to say goodbye,
I will make sure that you feel safe and loved.
I bless you because you bless me every day.

Benediction
-Buddhist

May every creature abound in well-being and peace.
May every living being,
Weak or strong, the long and the small,
The short and the medium-sized,
The mean and the great
May every living creature,
Seen and unseen,
Those dwelling far off,
Those waiting to be born,
May all attain peace.

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