Picture in your mind, a confronted dog positioned to pounce. Growling. Back fur standing straight up. And you see me, years ago when it came to the subject of larger pets inside the house. When raising children, I barked my house rule, “Pets belong outdoors.”

Then, the indescribable occurred. I experienced a total inner make-over. It came about when I let goodness happen on a bigger scale in my experience.

It began when a nine-year old foster boy came to live with us. He didn’t know how to be grateful, mainly because he didn’t have much to be grateful for. He also needed a friend he could trust because he didn’t trust human beings. Out of my mouth, came the shocking words, “Let’s go get a foster cat for you.”

“Can the cat sleep in my room with me?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

The child obliged and we found a cat to bring home. It was curious to watch. The child and cat became comfortable friends. The cat knew when to rub the leg of the boy and calm him. The boy knew when to clean the cat box and feed the cat.

I realized the boy and cat were experiencing a loving attachment. They weren’t talking about the gratitude and trust, but were experiencing the spirituality.

The cat was grateful for a home. The boy was grateful for the cat’s gratitude. They learned to trust the goodness.

Life went on and another family came along to adopt the child. Our household then took on a new dynamic without indoor pets, yet happiness prevailed.

In 2105, Mitchell Parker asked, “Who Rules the House—Dogs or Cats?” Parker answered the question by incorporating data from a Houzz Pets Survey, evaluating 10,000 pet owners in 11 countries around the world. He wrote, “[A]n overwhelming majority—from 71 percent in France to 90 percent in the U.S.—say the top benefit of owning a pet is that it makes them happy. And in the U.S., more than 70 percent of 3,100 pet owners surveyed say their pets help them reduce stress.”

There are many reasons why people have pets. And pets aren’t for everyone. Believe me, back in the day when I didn’t want large pets in the house, it would have been a mistake for me to get a pet.

Soulful experiences are transforming and far reaching. They begin with our desire to enlarge the spiritual goodness in our present experience. The goodness, however, isn’t assigned to a pet, a person, or a new job. It’s a genuine force we can trust because it loves us.