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I'd like to begin with a brief story I heard on the press that a man tried to sneak his

pet turtle onto a flight and he tried to pass it off as if it was fast food and the way

he did it was he placed it between these two buns and wrapped it in paper for Kentucky

fried chicken.

But he got caught and when he was discovered he told the airport officials that he just

really couldn't leave his beloved pet at home.

And I thought it was kind of an interesting little story because I have had times that

I've nearly canceled a teaching trip because I just didn't want to leave my dog and the

feeling is kind of this wrenching feeling.

And it speaks to how profound the sense of wanting connection and not wanting to be

separated is.

It's so deep in us.

There's so much research now that having pets in that sense of warmth and connection

and the oxytocin and tenderness it increases longevity and happiness, the happiness quality

of life and that the other side of the equation is when there's a deficit of connection, when

there's a lot of loneliness, there is depression and when we don't have adequate bonding early

on death, at least on it can be physical and on other levels too.

In the theme of tonight which has very much to do with connection and separation, there

is a myth that I love to share now and then and it's one of the legends from the Holy

...