{"id":378,"date":"2011-11-13T20:49:04","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T01:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/?p=378"},"modified":"2011-11-14T19:29:55","modified_gmt":"2011-11-15T00:29:55","slug":"streams-of-contentment-and-lessons-learned-from-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/11\/streams-of-contentment-and-lessons-learned-from-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Streams of contentment and lessons learned from animals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>In the classic song, \u201cThank God I\u2019m A Country Boy,\u201d John Denver sang, \u201cLife on the farm is kinda laid back<\/em>\u201d; I\u2019ve always wondered what he meant by that. I visited a dairy farm once and believe me, the amount of work needed to feed, milk, and otherwise care for cows and then get the milk to processing was certainly not laid back. It was arduous to the nth degree.<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019m older, I realize\u00a0Denver wasn\u2019t talking about the physical life on the farm in that famous song, but instead the mental and emotional and spiritual life, and the focus on the simple cycles of growth and death and regrowth, of connection with soil and water and air, of being part of creation, of family.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the message Robert J. Wicks shares in his latest book, \u201cStreams of Contentment\u201d, lessons he learned as a child while spending summers on his uncle\u2019s farm. (Check out the Patheos Book Club <\/a>for more reflections on this book.) He shares memories of times that taught him to be alone without being lonely, to see quiet moments at the fishing hole as true meditation, and to understand that what we need to be happy isn\u2019t more, but to be more happy with what we have.<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s something I\u2019ve found from working at home. The cat and dogs don\u2019t sweat deadlines; the only schedule they\u2019re on is lunch time and nap time. They aren\u2019t concerned about paychecks; they have everything they need \u2013 food, toys, a warm bed. They don\u2019t crave more food or toys or beds, because more wouldn\u2019t make them any happier than they already are.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve taught me that work begins when the play time is finished, that a nap every afternoon not only rests the body but also the mind, and that a warm puppy kiss can make a dark day brighter.<\/p>\n

A newer car, more TV channels, or a more technologically advanced cell phone aren\u2019t keys to happiness, and I\u2019m glad I don\u2019t have to work at a job I hate in order to have things I don\u2019t need. I don\u2019t have an iPhone or iPad or even an iPod; I drive a 10-year-old Jeep I affectionately call the dogmobile, and I love it, even though it doesn\u2019t back into parking spots on its own or have GPS or satellite radio (it doesn\u2019t even have a CD player); I\u2019m only distracted by hundreds of channels on cable TV.<\/p>\n

Instead, the interruptions I face throughout the day are not electronic, but canine. Woof! Woof! Let\u2019s play ball! Woof! Woof! Let\u2019s blow bubbles! A ride in the car means we listen to local talk radio and news. My lunch break includes \u201csleepy nap time\u201d, at least one hour curled up on the couch with the dogs.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m often out of the loop, pop culture-wise. But I don\u2019t think my life is any less full because I wouldn\u2019t know Lady GaGa if I met her in the grocery store.<\/p>\n

While working the land and raising farm animals is physically demanding work, there is also a reward for being connected spiritually to the animals, whether it\u2019s gratefulness for a fresh egg or the awe and wonder at seeing a newborn calf take its first wobbly step.<\/p>\n

Perhaps if we looked to our animal friends for lessons about life, we might be happier and more fulfilled.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the classic song, \u201cThank God I\u2019m A Country Boy,\u201d John Denver sang, \u201cLife on the farm is kinda laid back\u201d; I\u2019ve always wondered what he meant by that. I visited a dairy farm once and believe me, the amount of work needed to feed, milk, and otherwise care for cows and then get the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,12,25],"tags":[36,757,758,761,125,87,123,124],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-cats","category-dogs","category-reviews","tag-animals","tag-books","tag-cats","tag-dogs","tag-life-lessons","tag-pets","tag-robert-j-wicks","tag-streams-of-contentment"],"yoast_head":"\nStreams of contentment and lessons learned from animals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the classic song, \u201cThank God I\u2019m A Country Boy,\u201d John Denver sang, \u201cLife on the farm is kinda laid back\u201d; I\u2019ve always wondered what he meant by that. 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