i read the new york times, chronicle, and various other news sources to keep up with the 'big' stuff going on in the world. i rarely make it through one article as i either have no idea what they are talking about, or it burdens me too deeply, or i have no interest. its very rare that i will finish a 10 page article, but this one i couldn't stop.
this article not only reminded me of my great love for life, but how we as humans have the capacity to care so deeply for others. again, heaven on earth. its not a short article but if you are curious about life, i say give it 20 minutes, maybe 30 if you read like me. i mean hey, screaming kids in the background, the pressures of facebook, or cooking for 15 people shouldn't be an excuse...
i am a vegetarian because of articles like this. im asked constantly about my belief in vegetairanism and honestly all i want to say is, "i love animals." I tend to add that i dislike suffering, i couldnt kill them myself, they produce a lot of pollution, and my heart thanks me. But the truth is, i just love them.
i love the mean ones and scary ones.
i love the snakes although i never want to touch or even look at one.
i love the ants that bite and the lions that nurse.
i love the fish that seem stupid and the dogs that provide love to hospital patients.
i love the horses that train and the bats that fly.
i love the ones that remind me of myself and the ones that i can't imagine being real.
i love that when i read the article i wept because in the end, i am just another animal trying to make it in this world.
i love the mean ones and scary ones.
i love the snakes although i never want to touch or even look at one.
i love the ants that bite and the lions that nurse.
i love the fish that seem stupid and the dogs that provide love to hospital patients.
i love the horses that train and the bats that fly.
i love the ones that remind me of myself and the ones that i can't imagine being real.
i love that when i read the article i wept because in the end, i am just another animal trying to make it in this world.
This comment on the article sums up my thoughts.
“We need another and a wiser and perhaps more mystical concept of animals …. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man …”
Woof! Woof!
ReplyDeleteDolomite
Okay. I just read it. I almost wanted to cry at the end.....okay. maybe I did.
ReplyDeletehey Jen, this is Caro. I hope you are well in China! Sara sent me your way. :D
ReplyDeletethis really speaks to me, even though I haven't made the same choice, at least not yet. there's a whole episode in the "Planet Earth" series dedicated to the biophilia hypothesis, and specifically about how kids seem to lose their instinctive love of nature as adults. We just lose interest and respect in the world around us. I remember what a terrible place I thought the world would be without whales, how I hoped I would get to see one if they did die.
People mention how mindless and violent some animals seem as justification for what we do, but with our capacities for compassion and wonder and sympathetic imagination, I don't know why we accept that in ourselves. All this to say, I agree with you, I feel strongly about it, even if the rational philosopher side to me doesn't have justification for it.
thanks caro. i love your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteandy, cyber tissue being sent your way.
dolomite, i knew you were a smart dog, but who taught you that about the internet? great, now i'm gonna have to put parental controls on this thing.