Master takes care of all animals, even those that
are not Her pets. For instance, when She saw a moth fly into a halogen
working light and die, She immediately changed all the outdoor lights
to low-heat-emitting bulbs. On another touching occasion, when Master
was shopping, She passed a pet store and said that for some reason
She had to go in. Inside, She found that the store happened to be
having a sale on puppies. Master knelt down and talked to each puppy
for a long time, assuring them that they would definitely find a good
home. When the resident accompanying Master heard Her speak to the
puppies in such a loving tone, he almost burst into tears in the middle
of the store.
One story the residents will never forget involves
a stray dog that wandered into the Center four years ago. After Master
left the Center, She continued to care for him and once called to
send him a special bed, which She had seen while traveling. Unfortunately,
however, the dog had been given away and gotten lost. Master never
turns Her back on such adopted pets. Even four years later, when Master
met with the Florida Center residents She cried for a long time when
discussing this event. She often thinks of this dog and said he has
reached a very high level.
Master always puts Her dogs’ comfort before
Her own. For example, recently, Her smallest dog got a painful bruise,
which no one else but Master could detect, and She immediately knew
he was suffering. She then sent someone to buy painkillers, but he
forgot to bring them to the dog. Master said, ‘If you forget
to bring me food, I’ll forgive you, but if you don’t bring
the dog’s medicine I cannot forgive you!’ Later, when
the weather became hot, Master slept in the heat and directed Her
own air conditioning unit into Her dogs’ room rather than let
them suffer.
Master has long been famous at the local vet’s
office because of Her concern for Her animals. Several months ago,
She called the vet in the middle of the night to care for a wounded
possum She had found on the road even though possums are rodents that
most people exterminate. Later, when one of the vet’s clients
wanted to give away four birds that she had kept for fourteen years,
the vet referred her to Master. Master then sent someone on a long
trip to another state to pick up the birds, along with special toys
and cages for their long journey back. However, after having the person
try to talk to the birds many times, Master did not feel that they
wanted to leave. So She persuaded the woman not to abandon her pets
— only after paying to have the woman’s garage apartment
converted into a birdhouse!
Another dramatic instance of Master’s love
and wisdom occurred when we cut down a huge 40-foot tree at the Florida
Center. The tree was alive but was leaning dangerously over a house.
Master told us to explain the situation to the tree, thank it for
all it had done, and then wait for two days before cutting it down.
She said we should finish by 10:00 PM so as not to awaken the neighbors.
However we somehow managed to mix up the message so that two days
later, at precisely 10:00 PM, we began to cut
down the tree without even a chainsaw. We would have been there all
night, had Master not called at 2:00 AM. After sincerely repenting,
we resumed work the following afternoon.
But there was one problem. The entire group of
residents — four of whom had engineering degrees — tried
to maneuver the tree for six hours using all sorts of cables and anchors,
but no one could agree on how to direct the tree so that it would
avoid falling directly through the roof of the house. Just as we were
reaching the critical moment when the tree was to fall, a brother
informed us that Master was inside the house! We immediately informed
Her that any minute the roof might collapse on Her, but She was not
in the least bit afraid and walked casually outside to see what we
were doing. She immediately told us to pull the tree in the opposite
direction. Just in time, we moved a tractor with a cable in that direction;
the tree began to fall, and as we pulled with the tractor, the tree
descended approximately one centimeter past the corner of the roof!
Master thus had to come and save us despite all our engineering degrees!
One day in March 2003, Master had the idea to go
and look for some small pine trees in the forest at the far end of
the Florida Center. She called a few of us who were planting trees
to come with Her and we walked slowly together through the untouched
pine grove. Master said that this area was very pure as people never
went there. Master walked slowly and carefully on the forest floor,
which was sprinkled with pine needles, reminding those who followed
Her to be mindful as there were many small cacti growing among the
trees. She saw a wild rabbit and spoke to her, telling her not to
be afraid and apologizing for the fact that we had disturbed her home.
Next Master picked out a few small pine trees, explained that they
would be suitable to move, and told us to mark them or make a note
of their location. As we were leaving the pine grove, Master stopped
because She saw in front of Her a small cactus that had been squashed
and was now growing flat. She was delighted to see a small fruit growing
from the cactus, and told us that if we were in the desert and hungry
we could eat such cactus fruit to survive. Master then thanked the
cactus, and the gratitude in Her voice made me feel that the purpose
of the cactus’ existence was to grow just for Her. Next She
said, “Ah, he’s trying so hard even though he’s
flattened like a pancake! Thank you, honey.” This was one of
those precious glimpses of God’s love for all beings revealed
through a living Master.
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