CHAPTER 1

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one'ssoul remains unawakened." -- Anatole France

This story is about a very special part of my spiritual journey,and how I walked it accompanied by a beautiful and loveabledog named Rusty.

It all began when I was living with my Dad, AlexanderBoynton, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

One day I returned home from New York City and wassurprised to find a cute and friendly dog in the yard. Hehad been given to Dad by my niece Chantal and her motherbecause they were about to move into an apartment complexthat had a 'no pets allowed' policy. Dad said that a womanwho lived across the street was going to take him -- after shehad a fence built.

Twelve joyful years later, Rusty was still with us.

This loving, funny, magical and playful dog earned nicknameslike "My Sweet Puppito," "My Hunk of Burnin' Furry Love"(thanks Elvis), "The Puppy Dog Love of My Life" and myfavorite: "God's Puppy." I used to say his name was "RustipherPierre – Rusty, for short."

He loved to cuddle. He would also walk up to me and simplylean against my leg. One of his favorite love moves was towalk over to you while you were seated and walk one waywhile rubbing against your legs, then turn around and walkback the other way - repeating this gesture. I soon decidedthat this was his way of giving me hugs.

There is a driveway between Dad's house and the next doorneighbor's. At the front of it is a locked gate. The side dooron our house faces the side door of theirs. Dad didn't see anyreason to keep this door locked during the daytime. Rustywould simply let himself out and scratch on the door whenhe wanted to come back inside.

He had an energetic fan club of little children. Every day, ontheir way home from school, they would loudly call his name.Then he would let himself out and run to the gate to greetthem. They all seemed to be talking to him at once, as theypet him through the gate.

This was a daily routine.

All of the neighbors adored him. One of them volunteered towalk him and another would bring him food. Dad, of course,kept him well fed with dog food as well as food from thedinner table.

Even after one of the neighbors moved away, he would comeback to visit his family and still take time to walk Rusty.

I loved to take him for long walks. When we got home hewould try to stay out longer by swinging me around so thatwe could walk some more. Many times, during these walks,people would say that he looked like a lion. Many times hedid - especially when the hair around his neck grew long andactually looked like a lion's mane.

At night Rusty would sleep in the bedroom with me. When Iwent away, he would sleep in Dad's room. I'm a professionalsinger and sometimes I'd go on extended tours out of thecountry. Whether I was returning from the airport or fromthe local subway, I would always look for Rusty at the frontgate before entering the house. We'd say our hellos throughthe gate and then I would go into the house while he barkedloudly until I let him in -- then there would be doggie kissesand yes, Rusty style hugs.

He had such a joyful nature and especially seemed to loveplaying and spending time with boys of all ages. One day Isaw him on his hind legs and he appeared to be boxing withmy brother Sean. Yes, it was definitely a boy thing! That wasfor the boys; cuddles were for the girls.

Dad had retired many years before Rusty's arrival, so thetwo of them were able to spend a lot of time together. Mystepmother passed away many years earlier; since this is atwo family home and the neighbors on the block adored him,Dad was never alone.

There was always a recliner in the front parlor. When one woreout, a replacement was quickly found. Dad would sit on it,either watching television or reading a newspaper with Rustylying beside him. They started out the day watching "ThePrice is Right" and ended it watching "Wheel of Fortune."When Dad went outside, so did Rusty. When Dad walked tothe front of the driveway, so did his sidekick.

I especially cherish two pictures I took of them. In the firstone they're standing at the front gate looking out at the streetwhile Dad is locking the gate for the night. Then I took thesecond picture after the two of them turned around andwalked, side by side, back down the driveway. Dad may haveonly taken three minutes to do this but Rusty was still goingto accompany him. For me, those two pictures always sumup Rusty's relationship with Dad.

One of Rusty's best friends was my nephew, Gerald. Hevisited from California a few times a year. When he firstarrived at the house, Rusty would jump up and down loudlybarking. Gerald once said "he reminds me of a kid." I felt thatway too. It was as if he were my little brother or my child.When I came home with packages, he would jump up onthe sofa and poke his nose through them to see if there wasanything for him. At those times, the "like a kid" opinionreally made sense.

CHAPTER 2

"Animals share with us the privilege ofhaving a soul."-- Pythagoras

One day my brother Justin came by and said something thatI never expected to hear anyone say. Referring to Rusty, hesaid "I don't like him." At the time, he was sitting in a chairadjacent to the sofa. Rusty climbed up on the sofa and lookeddirectly at him, as if to ask: "Can you look me in the eyes andsay that?" Dad and I both laughed. At the time, I dismissedthat comment as the rest of us had deep, everlasting lovefor Rusty and having the nickname God's Puppy does comewith certain obvious privileges. Besides how could the entireneighborhood, passing strangers and the rest of the familybe wrong?

Now Sylvester was a different story. Sylvester was an orangecolored cat owned by the next door neighbors. He was alsoa frequent visitor -- climbing into the window box, andlooking inside the house. Dad sometimes left cat food outsidefor him. Once in a while Rusty would see Sylvester at thewindow and let him know, in no uncertain terms, that hewas not welcome. One day I saw Sylvester give Rusty a lookthat I thought cats could only do in cartoons. His face wasso contorted with anger, that he actually looked dangerous.Fortunately the window between them was safely closed.

Sylvester knew that.

He was a very bold and wise cat. Sometimes he would enterthe house and walk around. I guess he must have checkedto see if Rusty was outside before making such a courageousmove. Those two not liking each other somehow made sense.Why a human could say he didn't like Rusty, I will neverknow.

One year, I decided to spend my vacation in Paris. When Ihear the song "J'ai Deux Amours, Mon Paix et Paris" ("I havetwo loves, my country and Paris") – I always think that it waswritten especially for me because that is exactly how I feelabout my country and that beautiful city.

I could easily walk the length of Paris and still be ready towalk some more.

One afternoon, while leaving the section surrounding thebeautiful and opulent Opéra Garnier, I decided to walk downAvenue de l'Opéra -- and to my surprise -- found Brentano's,an American bookstore. Since I love browsing and shoppingin bookstores, I quickly walked through the door.

I found the metaphysical section and my eyes rested upona book called The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz. Iopened a page at random and started reading a story abouta woman who came home from work one night feelingemotionally tense, tired and...