Beautiful red roses bloom
on a green hill of mountain.
Heaven kisses Earth.
Tag: Nature
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How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend by Monks of New Skete
How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: The Classic Manual for Dog Owners by Monks of New SketeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of my favorite saints of the Church is St. Francis of Assisi because of his humanity, compassion, sweet nature, and his love of animals with whom he is believed to communicate based upon the story of his converting the Wolf of Gubbio to a tamed animal. The story goes that while living in the city of Gubbio around 1220, St Francis volunteered to take leave and meet a ferocious wolf who devastated the country by attacking people and livestock. When St. Francis finally met the wolf, instead of punishing him for the offenses, he gently admonished the wolf to cause no more plight to the people and the livestock and promised him that he would be fed daily by the people of the city. The wolf was grateful for the compassionate promise and put his front paw on the saint’s hand as a gesture of accepting the advice. Thereafter, the Wolf of Gubbio kept his promise with the saint and became a tamed pet animal of the city.
With this evocative image in mind of the gentle saint and the tamed wolf I had once seen on a prayer card, I selected to read this book by Monks of Skete of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In this regard, I was piqued by the facts that (1) these monks were reputable German Shepherd breeders and acclaimed canine-human relationship teachers; and that (2) the monks lived with the dogs in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel manifested in their healthy relationship with the dogs. However, the monks of Skete carefully avoid religious jargon in the book lest the book should be interpreted as a promotion of their faith. Instead, their faith is carefully incorporated into the belief of fostering their ideas about dogs with a philosophical and spiritual foundation for personal change because dogs mirror who we are by responding to the way we treat them without deception.
The gem of this book is the monks’ views on salubrious human-canine relationship as appreciation of truths of the two worlds: one world of our own human prowess as a caretaker and one world of their own pristine nature as a guide to the wondrous natural world from which we have gradually distanced. While we provide them with food, shelter, and veterinarian care, dogs enable us to appreciate the beauty, the warmth, and the compassion that are deeply rooted in our humanity we often overlook or even try to suppress in the face of existential dilemma. In consideration of the aforesaid, I believe that the story of St. Francis of Assisi and the Wolf of Gubbio is not a myth but a truth.
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My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
My Life in Dog Years by Gary PaulsenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reading this book is like listening to Mr. Paulsen’s tale of wondrous dogs he has encountered in his life: His colloquial English writing style is all the more realistic and straightforwardly addressed to readers’ hearts, leaving strong imprints in their minds without elaborate metaphor. Mr. Paulsen introduces his readers to the dogs that have provided his life with compassion, loyalty, faithfulness, and joy, the virtues which only humans are thought to be endowed with. Take Ike, the black Lab who appeared out of the blue to console the author’s lonely heart and become a good friend; and Josh, an incredibly smart and remarkably faithful Border Collie, who was not only a good herding dog but also a loyal friend. I would dare say that these wonder dogs were his saving grace that helped him to find his calling as a fine American writer.
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Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote
Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted KerasoteMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ted Kerasote’s book on his freethinking dog Merle is filled with his extensive knowledge on the wildlife and humorous episodes with his canine buddy Merle, who reminds me of Snoopy in his independent character and individual personality. I am enthralled by the way he and Merle communicated to each other, which I find scintillating. The author has a unique way with a dog as if he were his real buddy and/or partner in performing any daily tasks together. Such human-canine bond seems primordial and endemic in an environment where the world of the wildlife is paraded within arm’s reach. In sum, reading this book will enlighten you on how a human-canine relationship can evolve with lots of smiles and tears.
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Katz on Dogs by Jon Katz
Katz on Dogs: A Commonsense Guide to Training and Living with Dogs by Jon KatzMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
What I like about this book is its simplicity in defining a human-canine relationship devoid of complex training regime and overtly enforced ethical overtones on animal rights and so forth. Also, I can’t agree more to the following perspectives of the author as a kindred spirit: (1) Rather than relying heavily on professional training advice from books and the media, being a trainer of my own by observing and understanding my dog works the best; (2) being a “rational” dog-lover, who does not make moral/ethical decisions on the behaviors/fate of my dog, is a way of respecting my dog’s “animalness”; (3) it is possible that people and animals can be bonded by “psychospirituality”; and (4) dogs reflect the people we are and the people we want to be. This book is a must read for anyone who not only wants to but also is willing to include a dog in his/her life in tandem.
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A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans
A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick JansMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book has taught me the following facts about wolves: (1) wolves do not attack and/or kill to eat humans; (2) there is only a 0.01 difference between the genetic packages of the wolf and the dog; (3) it isn’t impossible for a male wolf to be attracted by a female dog, and therefore, the interbreeding is possible; and (4) we should respect all wild /domesticated animals as parts of God’s creatures. With beautifully touching black and white photos taken by the author himself in the book, it is a tale of a romantic wolf called Romeo and his adventurous love affair with the tamed world.
Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh 
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