Reflections
These 10 Reflections are refreshed bi-monthly.
Click here to see archived Reflections from previous months.
Greetings of the Season
May you be blessed.
May you feel full.
May you know that you are loved
and even more, that you are Love.
May you make a difference,
be pleased with yourself,
and ever fascinated
with your divinely curated life.
May you grow in compassion,
and effectiveness,
and humor.
And may you know with all that's in you
that although it's fully possible to feel despair,
It is impossible ever to be alone.
By Victoria Moran, Co-founder of the Compassion Consortium
Do not be daunted by the insurmountability of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it.
From The Talmud
For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.
From The Outermost House, by Henry Beston, writer and naturalist
May my presence be a blessing to all creatures.
Blessed furriness walking on four legs,
may you be sustained and flourish.
Blessed feathered of the skies,
may you be sustained and flourish.
Blessed finned beings of the waters,
may you be sustained and flourish.
Blessed leafed one rooted in the Earth,
may you be sustained and flourish.
Glory be to the Forests, and to the Deserts,
and to the Holy Seas.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be.
May I live in connection to the everlasting cycle of life,
And when this body can no longer sustain me,
May I be blessed with a sacred sendoff.
From Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing the Planet, by Rev. Sarah Bowen, co-founder of the Compassion Consortium
The only good cage is an empty cage.
From The Elephant Whisperer, by Lawrence Anthony
Dominion does not mean domination. We hold dominion over animals only because of our powerful and ubiquitous intellect. Not because we are morally superior. Not because we have a "right" to exploit those who cannot defend themselves. Let us use our brain to move toward compassion and away from cruelty, to feel empathy rather than cold indifference, to feel animals' pain in our hearts.
From Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect, by Marc Bekoff
When you start with a necessary evil, and then over time the necessity passes away, what's left?
From Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy, by Matthew Scully
The animals themselves are incapable of demanding their own liberation, or of protesting against their condition with votes, demonstrations, or bombs. Human beings have the power to continue to oppress other species forever, or until we make this planet unsuitable for living beings. Will our tyranny continue, proving that we really are the selfish tyrants that the most cynical of poets and philosophers have always said we are? Or will we rise to the challenge and prove our capacity for genuine altruism by ending our ruthless exploitation of the species in our power, not because we are forced to do so by rebels or terrorists, but because we recognize that our position is morally indefensible?
By Peter Singer, Australian author and moral philosopher
… one thing hunting is not is a sport. Sport is when individuals or teams compete against each other under equal circumstances to determine who is better at a given game or endeavor. Hunting will be a sport when deer, elk, bears, and ducks are... given 12-gauge shotguns. Bet we'd see a lot fewer drunk yahoos (live ones, anyway) in the woods if that happened.
Author unknown
Many of us have observed in our lives the power of creative visualization, holding a thought or a vision with intention over time and eventually seeing that vision take shape. There is almost always practical action involved as well, but very often the instructions for that action come to us as a result of the visualization.
When it comes to our shared goal of a kind, peaceful, sustainable world, it's very easy to "visualize" the worst. We know the predictions, based on solid science, about climate change, species extinction, and more. Because these are undeniable facts, we can tell ourselves that a rational person needs to focus there: this is the problem… This is where we are now…This is how bad it will be five years from now….
Yet as important as it is to face the facts, we need to know the Truth -- and that capital T is intentional. This Truth may not reflect the world as it is, but it does depict the world as it should be, as it was meant to be, as it can be. We can use the power of thought to help create the world we want and to motivate us in our own work to bring this about.
Victoria Moran, co-founder of the Compassion Consortium