A double dose of holiday cheer.

Another Christmas in the can.

I have been very bad this year, Santa.  I don't even know what I did to deserve any of these presents.  These things, while they are all nice, are things.....and I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I am really quite appreciative of everything I have....but the greatest gift of all is love. 

I am thankful to be loved, and have love in my heart.  My dog, Steve, is quite possibly the embodiment of unconditional love.  Anyone who tells me animals do not experience emotions, they have not met my Steve.  Any time I come home he eagerly comes to greet me as if he is relieved that I wasn't "gone forever."

Today Steve received for Christmas some pig ears, some twisty beef chews, and a tennis ball chew toy thingy.  If you have never seen a dog cry out of appreciation, you are truly missing out.  It melts your heart.  They are so appreciative of the simplest gestures.  Anyhow, when he got his presents he was so overwhelmed he didn't know what to do.  He had to leave so he could enjoy a pig ear in solitude.

I want to be more like my dog.  I want to be happy when there is nothing in particular to be happy about.  I want to get excited every time I see a person I know.  I want to be as loyal to my friends and family as my Steve is to me. 

When I sat down to write another entry I had no idea it would be a love letter to my pet.  He is my best friend in the world though, I am not ashamed to say it.  Kind of sad when animals make better alternatives to people.  But people are messy and complicated.  People have egos, and agendas, and drama.  People have incessant chatterbox brains...the neocortical insanity that is our lives.

But people can be pretty awesome too.  Sometimes you have to be patient with them.  Sometimes you have to dig in to find the person deep down that is worth loving.  I believe that we are all essentially good and innocent, and that the cruelty we perpetuate is due to the environmental factors that shape us.

My goal from now on is to see more of the Light in people, more of God's presence.  We are all spirits trapped in the material world.  May we all bask in God's light, and God's love.

Seasons greetings from all of us at FM2012.