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Sunday, April 10, 2011
Nature and Contemplation
"Jesus teaches us to see the Father’s hand in the beauty of the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, the starry night, fields ripe for the harvest, the faces of children and the needs of the poor and humble. If you look at the world with a pure heart, you too will see the face of God." - Pope John Paul II, Denver, 1993
Do Our Dogs Really Love Us?
Source: AOLanswers
Do our dogs really love us or is that just our human interpetation?
We say dogs give unconditional love and when they lick they are giving kisses and love us and when they lay or snuggle they are showing love and affection.Is that true or is that our human interpetation and dogs don't even care to love and just feel pleasure or displeasure and basic survival needs and only treat us well because we give them fod,water,shelter and walk them. Is it possible that they don't love us at all and don't know what love is? Do dogs love us the same way we love them or more?Do they have the same emotion of love as we humans do or is love more of a human emotion?
Let me tell you a story about a dog in Japan named Hachiko.
In 1924, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took in Hachiko as a pet. During his owner's life, Hachiko greeted him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachiko was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.
Hachiko was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, returning again and again to his old home. Eventually, Hachiko apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachiko waited for the return of his owner.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachiko attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachiko and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachiko treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
This continued for nine years with Hachiko- appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.
That same year, one of Ueno's students (who had become an amateur expert on the Akita breed) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home (the home of the former gardener of Professor Ueno Kikuzaboro, where he learned the history of Hachiko's life. Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. His research found only 30 purebred Akitas remaining, including Hachiko from Shibuya Station.
He returned frequently to visit the dog and over the years published several articles about Hachiko's remarkable loyalty. In 1932 one of these articles, published in Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachiko became a national sensation. His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachiko's vigil as an example for children to follow. A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew.
Eventually, Hachiko's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty.
Hachiko died on March 8, 1935, and was found on a street in Shibuya.
In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station and Hachiko himself was present at its unveiling. The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachiko Statue commissioned Takeshi Ando, son of the original artist, to make a second statue. When the new statue appeared, a dedication ceremony occurred. The new statue, which was erected in August 1948, still stands and is an extremely popular meeting spot. The station entrance near this statue is named "Hachiko--guchi", meaning "The Hachiko Exit", and is one of Shibuya Station's five exits.
A similar statue stands in Hachiko's hometown, in front of O-date Station. In 2004, a new statue of Hachiko was erected on the original stone pedestal from Shibuya in front of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate.
Hachiko's exact spot where he waited in the train station permanently has paw-prints there in bronze with text in Japanese explaining his loyalty.
Hachiko was the subject of the 1987 movie Hachiko Monogatari (literally The Tale of Hachiko), directed by Seijiro- Ko-yama, which told the story of his life from his birth up until his death and imagined spiritual reunion with his master. Considered a blockbuster success, the film was the last big hit for Japanese film studio Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo.
Hachi: A Dog's Story, released in August 2009, is an American movie starring actor Richard Gere, directed by Lasse Hallström, about Hachiko and his relationship with the professor. The movie was filmed in Rhode Island, and also featured Joan Allen and Jason Alexander.
Hachiko is also the subject of a 2004 children's book entitled Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, written by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by Yan Nascimbene. Another children's book, a short novel for readers of all ages called Hachiko Waits, written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Machiyo Kodaira, was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 2004. Hachiko Waits was released in paperback by Square Fish (an imprint of MacMillan) in 2009.
Hachiko is featured prominently in the 2008 novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. The novel revolves around the extraordinary relationship between the title character, his family and the dogs they raise.
In 1994, the Culture Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Japan was able to lift a recording of Hachiko barking from an old record that had been broken into several pieces. A huge advertising campaign ensued and on Saturday, May 28, 1994, 59 years after his death, millions of radio listeners tuned in to hear Hachiko bark.
Each year on April 8, Hachiko's devotion is honored with a solemn ceremony of remembrance at Tokyo's Shibuya railroad station. Hundreds of dog lovers often turn out to honor his memory and loyalty.
If that isn't love, then you tell me what is?
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