Article July 23, 2007 Issue

'PUT FACE CLOSE'

BY BOB CLARK

FEELING CLOSE TO GOD is a great gift, and brings great freedom. It's natural and powerful to feel a divine Father-Mother loving and guiding you in a crisis, and such a feeling results in healing. I've come to think of this kind of connection as my "put face close to God" prayer.

The term "put face close" is what those who study dolphin behavior call an ethogram. It describes the way a baby dolphin swims with its face close to its mother, in order to learn survival skills.

My wife and I love living by the sea and have often had opportunities to observe the sea's inhabitants, including wild dolphins. We've found the sight of a mother and baby dolphin swimming together and exhibiting "put face close" behavior both heartwarming and thought-provoking.