Story by Lori Zook-Stanley
Illustration by Isaac Zook-Stanley
On the mantle in my social work office sits a small brown and tan owl. A dear Sangha member gave me this stuffed animal as an acknowledgment and reminder of the wisdom I can offer. My eight-year-old son Isaac spotted this little owl one day and asked if he could have it. I responded that I wanted to leave it in my office but that he could play with it when he came to visit.
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Story by Lori Zook-Stanley
Illustration by Isaac Zook-Stanley
On the mantle in my social work office sits a small brown and tan owl. A dear Sangha member gave me this stuffed animal as an acknowledgment and reminder of the wisdom I can offer. My eight-year-old son Isaac spotted this little owl one day and asked if he could have it. I responded that I wanted to leave it in my office but that he could play with it when he came to visit. I reminded him that he had a large collection of stuffed animals at home, and that this was here to remind me to be wise.
A few days later Isaac gave me a paper bag. He often blesses me with gifts of his artwork; however, I was particularly touched by this gift. He had cut a paper bag into an owl puppet, using round stickers to form its face. Inside this puppet he had placed a drawing (shown here). Isaac had drawn a picture of a tree with owls and baby owls. A moon shone overhead and a rock sat on the ground at the base of the tree. A bat joined an owl in the air. Speech bubbles were drawn from these beings, and within each, Isaac had written the word “sangha.”
I sat next to my child in silence and wonder, receiving his teaching of wisdom and Sangha.
Lori Zook-Stanley is a member of Blooming Heart Sangha in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Isaac and his sister Sophia are her primary Dharma teachers.
