God's Messengers What Animals Teach Us About the Divine

by Anderson, Allen; Anderson, Linda; Schoen, Allen M.

• ISBN13: 9781577312468
• ISBN10: 1577312465
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-26
• Publisher: New World Library

Summary

Combining spiritual questions with heartwarming animal tales, God’s Messengers will appeal to anyone who seeks the mystical in the everyday. The authors have gathered these accounts from a wide variety of people and divided them into four sections: Love, Wisdom, Courage, and Comfort. Each story answers a question, for example: Is there a God? Are prayers answered? and Is there a heaven? Throughout, wild and domesticated creatures teach humans about health, compassion, and unconditional love — birds, coyotes, dolphins, and iguanas, as well as cats, dogs, and horses. Readers will learn about a ferret who helped an autistic boy play baseball, a dolphin who was saved by a concerned community, and a dog who pulled hair from her tail in sympathy with a chemo patient. 50 black-and-white photographs accompany these amazing stories.

Author Biography

Allen and Linda Anderson are the founders of the Angel Animals Network (www.angelanimals.net). They are also inspirational speakers and coauthors of Angel Animals: Exploring Our Spiritual Connection with Animals. They offer a free weekly newsletter, Angel Animals Day Brightener. They share their home in Minneapolis with a menagerie of animals and donate a portion of the revenues they receive as authors to animal shelters.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Allen Schoen, M.S., D.V.M.	xi
Introduction: Golden Connections
Allen and Linda Anderson	xiii
Part One: Love
Chapter One: Is There a God?	3	(16)
The Dog Who Discovered God
Mary Elizabeth Martucci	5	(4)
Q: Is There a God? A: Meow!
Mary Ellen "Angel Scribe"	9	(3)
The Presence of Teddy
Rose-Marie Silkens	12	(2)
Send in the Cows
Monica O'Kane	14	(2)
Season's Eternal Song
Aubrey Forbes	16	(3)
Chapter Two: Can We Know If God Loves Us?	19	(18)
The Man Who Didn't Like Cats
Lynn Harper	21	(3)
A Triple Play of Unconditional Love
Ronald Mirolla	24	(3)
God's Love and the Snake
Samuel Dufu	27	(2)
The Journey of Joy
J. Blair Taylor	29	(4)
Max's Miracle of Love
Meg Maczuna-Betts	33	(2)
A Coyote's Message
Kathia Haug Thalmann	35	(2)
Chapter Three: Does God Help Us Find Each Other?	37	(18)
Abbie Knew Best
Donna Francis	39	(3)
All in the Family
Anabela Guerreiro	42	(3)
That Special Someone
Doris Rouse	45	(3)
Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me a Match
Ellen Moshenberg	48	(2)
Cindy Finds Our Friends
R. Dale Hylton	50	(1)
Mr. Kitties, the Grief Counselor
Lisa Altieri O'Brien	51	(4)
Chapter Four: Does God Heal Hurting Hearts, Bodies, and Minds?	55	(20)
Ferrets Are Made of God
Rebecca Stout	57	(4)
The Compassion of Noodles
Judy Tatelbaum	61	(2)
A Hamster's Legacy
Rube Hanna	63	(4)
Kitten Launches a Law Career
Mary Margaret McEachern Nunalee	67	(3)
Bon Jour Helped Mary Have a Good Day
Linda L. Nickerson	70	(5)
Part Two: Wisdom
Chapter Five: Are Prayers Answered?	75	(16)
Amazing Grace and the Dolphin
Sierra Goodman	77	(4)
A Meditating Angel Dog
Paula Timpson	81	(2)
A Moose Messenger
The Rev. Mary Piper	83	(2)
The Miraculous Opening of a Heart
Catherine Kirk Chase	85	(3)
Walk Easy
Sandy Carlson	88	(3)
Chapter Six: Why Do Bad Things Happen?	91	(18)
Spotted Angels
Richard Simmons	94	(4)
Cassidy and Our Date with Destiny
Karen Lee Stevens	98	(3)
A Llama with Wings
Lydia Chiappini	101	(3)
The Upside-Down Birdhouse
Lorraine Lanzon	104	(2)
Explaining to a Horse How It's All in Divine Order
Lois Stanfield	106	(3)
Chapter Seven: Are We Mirrors for Each Other?	109	(18)
Sacred Companions
Evelyn Alemanni	112	(1)
Seeing Parallels, Finding Omens
Grace J. Harstad	113	(5)
The Falcon's Return
Jan Warren	118	(2)
Simple Gifts
Larry Siegel	120	(3)
Forest Family
Sri Harold Klemp	123	(4)
Part Three: Courage
Chapter Eight: Does God Help Us Be Heroic?	127	(14)
A Dog's Life
Patricia A. Brown	129	(2)
The Dog Who Knew His Place
David Young	131	(2)
Kabootle, Our Rescue Cat
Lauren L. Merryfield	133	(3)
Warnings from the Dolphins
Iona Selke	136	(3)
Divine Spirit Sends in the Birds
Dorothy Weiss	139	(2)
Chapter Nine: Does God Grant Us Strength to Survive Troubled Times?	141	(18)
The Dog Who Loved TV
Dianne W. Armstrong	143	(3)
Our Angel Kitty
Donna Moody	146	(2)
The Luck Bunny
Camille A. Lufkin	148	(3)
Support through a Team Effort
Nancy Harlett	151	(2)
A Squirrel Reminded Us to Trust God
Allen and Linda Anderson	153	(6)
Part Four: Comfort
Chapter Ten: Do Dreams Contain Messages from God?	159	(18)
I Dreamed of DeeDee
Sharon Ward	161	(3)
Dreaming of My Animal Spirit
Hope Ball	164	(4)
An Iguana's Nightmare
Darry Conner	168	(2)
The Doggie Dream Diagnosis
Richard S. McDiarmid	170	(2)
The Cat Who Guided My Dad Home
Leslie-Ann Guiney	172	(3)
White Horse Dream
Laurence Cruz	175	(2)
Chapter Eleven: Does God Guide Us Peacefully into the Light?	177	(20)
The Rainbow Bridge
Anonymous	179	(1)
Messengers from Heaven
Judith Neely	180	(3)
Bitsy Says Good-Bye
Heidi W. Dunlap	183	(3)
A Heavenly Vision
Fleur Wiorkowski	186	(2)
Love with Her Dying Breath
Dr. Rebecca L.G. Verna, M.S., D.V.M., C.VC.H.	188	(2)
Telephone Calls and Touches
Linda Woodley	190	(2)
A Beautiful Light Leaves the World
Lisa Aurora Kyle	192	(2)
Answers
Sherri-Lynn White	194	(3)
Chapter Twelve: Does God Reunite Us with Loved Ones?	197	(20)
My Encounter with Animals on the Other Side
Monica Ramsten	198	(3)
Kanda's Return
Jenny Drastura	201	(5)
Miss Kitty Returns Her Love through Ally McPurr
Lisa Sherman	206	(5)
The White Dog Nobody Saw
Rita M. Romansky	211	(2)
Come Back Soon
Diana Stewart-Koster	213	(4)
Notes	217	(4)
Permissions Acknowledgments	221	(4)
Contributors	225	(10)
Acknowledgments	235	(2)
About Allen and Linda Anderson	237