Crossing the Lake

Charlie!  Charlie!

You are but a puppy.  I cannot play.  Let me be.

No, Charlie, I am ageless.  I am here to take you onward so that you are not alone in your journey.

I can't.  I'm too slow.  Are we on a frozen lake?  I can no longer hear the sounds of my happy family as I lie sleeping in my bed.  Where are we going?

You will see, Charlie, when we get across the lake.  Come, Charlie!

It's cold and the snow is getting packed in my paws.

Come, Charlie!  Come with me; I have something to show you!

It's getting warmer.  I can see the opposite shore.  I'm getting faster and there is a forest over there!  I can see him; it is the Keeper at the Gates of Dawn; how beautifully he plays his pipes!

Yes, Charlie!  You are young again and it is Spring.  We are in the Great Forest Beyond and all of your friends and kindred spirits await to greet you, see!

I had forgotten what it is like to run and jump!   How joyful and happy I feel!  The cool water tastes good and my tail is up high, wagging, and I can smell flowers, birds and many interesting creatures!

Charlie, you are home now, but there remains an important job to be done.

When I look back across the lake I can hardly see through the fog.  It is still frozen.  There is my beloved human; I can see her crying.  She is so sad and I have left her.  

Humans live much longer lives than we do, Charlie.  You must wait to show her the way when it is at long last her turn, so that she will not be alone.

My human has lost so many friends in her life, how can I leave her now, and how can humans keep on living with such grief?  I have left her all alone.

No, Charlie, she is never alone, for you will soon understand that even if you are not a creature of the Earth anymore, your presence is still there in the heart of your human.  She has a great heart, and you have left it bigger and more full because of your life.  She knows both love and pain, for humans must learn to reconcile the two.  Loss and grief are part of the human existence, Charlie, but these things will right themselves in time.  When you finally meet your human, alongside all of your friends who have gone ahead and those who will come after, you will both understand.  

I shall miss her.  I will never leave her alone.

No, Charlie, you shall always be with each other, but for now you will be young again, playing, jumping and being happy and healthy, and when your human comes to join you, she, too, will know youth again in its abounding eagerness, energetic anticipation and excitement, and more, she will know peace in her heart, and reap the rewards of eternal friendship and devotion, for the two of you have only just begun your journey.

Then I shall wait patiently, and when my human and I are together again, she shall hear the joyous barking and see the wave of tails in the air of all those to whom she has given her love and compassion - I will be there!  Do not worry: I will wait for you!

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Beloved Furrie Carlie Cewe "Charlie"

at peace

ANZAC Day, 2009

forever in my heart

The lesser creatures await Christ's return to redeem the sons of God so they, too, will be released from physical death to eternal life. 

Romans 8:19 (KJV)