Coco, Making Life Right

In Joan Chittister's "The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages", the author notes that a leader promoting monastic spirituality need not be "intent on making things right, but on making life right", or in other words, on promoting the development of life's important qualitative aspects-- those aspects of life that feed our souls. Watching Coco bound through the yard this morning in eager search of lizards to catch, cats to harass, and birds to chase, I was struck by what a clear grasp Coco seems to have making life right- on her "quality of life". She pursues with great joy and enthusiasm those things that interest and engage her. She doesn't worry when her food bowl is empty; she knows food will be provided. She doesn't bemoan the size of the yard, wishing for a more sizable patch of grass, she enjoys what she has. Coco doesn't even seem concerned that she almost never actually catches a lizard, or a cat, or a bird. She just does what she loves, driven by instinct, curiosity, and possibility, and it's the pursuit that matters most, not the getting.

I realize that too often, I don't want to engage in a work, personal, or even spiritual pursuit unless I am assured I'll get a specific outcome, and I sometimes have trouble finding the joy in the quality, not the quantity of things. So the next time I find myself feeling so, I'll go watch Coco chase lizards and let her be my simple leader in making life right.

Coco chasing lizards in the rain, 2015