Convenient

Our house was sparkling clean this morning. Between our preparations for Gabriel's first birthday party and an appraiser coming to our house, there was a flurry of organizing and cleaning up this weekend.

At one point in time in the midst of all of this, my husband said, "Look at how dirty these windows and windowsills are. When's the last time we cleaned them? We've really been lazy." The prideful woman I am, I took this as a personal attack and jumped on the defensive, "What do you mean we? I'm not lazy. I'm always busy doing all kinds of things around the house." Yet, a few minutes later, I glanced at our compost container on the kitchen counter, and the reality of my own laziness was clearer than the dirt on our windows.

I am not a "winter person" by any stretch of the imagination. Every winter I imagine what it would be like to live in a more temperate climate. Every winter I long for my vegetable garden, to walk barefoot in the grass, to feel the warm summer rains, to touch and smell the sweetness of the earth, to be able to get up and go without taking a half hour to dress everyone.

This winter is no different. Recently I have been dreading the cold, gusty winds so much that I've been putting off taking our compost outside to the compost bin. I've allowed the compost container inside to get to the point where it's not only full, but it's overflowing so much that I can't even put a lid on it. There have even been a few occasions when I've just given up and put a bunch of it down the garbage disposal. Talk about laziness!

It's interesting that it took necessity to compel us to go the extra mile with our house cleaning. Yet, on a daily basis, I skip so many corners. Why is it that I often make the best choices and efforts only when it is convenient for me? It's easy to sit around and bemoan the growing environmental destruction in the world and cast the blame and judgement on others. But, in reality, the problem lies within each and every one of us.

Bishop Kallistos Ware said, “There can be no transformation of the environment without self-denial, no fundamental renewal of the cosmos without voluntary sacrifice.” If each of us are not willing to be faithful in taking small steps (no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient) in our own lives which take the environment into consideration, God's creation will suffer. In a joint message from Orthodox Primates in 1995, Orthodox Christians were called upon "...to be vigilant and to take every necessary avenue in order to save and protect God's creation." As for me, I'm going start with the compost bin, even when it's not convenient.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps on the back of the wind

and floats downstream till the current ends

and dips his wings in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage

can seldom see through his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with fearful trill

of the things unknown but longed for still

and is tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

of things unknown but longed for still

and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou

The other day, while I was taking a walk with my children, I saw a sight that broke my heart. Across the street from where we were walking, there was a bird in a cage on someone's front porch. In one respect, it was nice to see that the caretakers of this bird thought it would be good for the bird to get some fresh air. However, I just don't understand how anyone can find it to be alright to cage a bird.

Why did God give birds wings? The answer is so obvious that it makes the question seem ridiculous. Yet we tamper with God's creation and cage birds.

This also brought to mind the poem, above, by Maya Angelou, and the sad reality that in this fallen world we enslave both animals and people and find ways to either justify or disguise such cruelties. There is a wonderful book, The Dreaded Comparison, by Marjorie Spiegel, which addresses in-depth this very issue.

The first time I read it years ago, I was shocked by the incredible similarities between our treatment of human slavery and animal slavery. I just glanced through the pages for the first time in quite a while, and the pictures brought me to tears. The book opens up with a picture of a slave auction and a picture of a cattle auction. They may as well been held at the same place, for the images are identical.

St. John of Kronstadt said, "If you love your neighbor, then all heaven will love you; if you are united in spirit with your fellow creatures then you will be united with God and all the company of heaven." Oh how woefully far we are from this ideal. What is it within humanity that compells us to treat one another and the rest of God's creation with such contempt and disregard? How have we continued to be blinded to the hardening of our hearts? Lord, please help us to love....

Sanctuary

So we recently went on a trip up to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY. It is a wonderful organization that rescues abused farm animals and works to educate people about their plight. I have visited there on a few other occasions throughout the years. However, this year's visit was especially meaningful to me because it was the first time my husband and my children were there.

It was such a wonderful feeling to be in a place where animals are treated with love and respect. And to see my oldest son hugging and feeding the animals and leaping around them with squeals of happiness brought me the joy of all joys. It also gave even more confirmation that God intended for us to have communion with the animals. God calls us to be as the little children. If children are so naturally drawn to love animals, to feel joy in their presence, shouldn't we as well?

While our visit there was short, I left feeling refreshed and renewed knowing that there are others who feel the same way about God's creatures. Farm Sanctuary is not only a sanctuary for animals, but for people too.

One Dollar Diet Project

But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

- Mark 10:31

We are called to give to the poor, and to not store up treasures on earth. However, the way of life of many of us in the United States is a far cry from this. Modern commercialism has led us to have a distorted perception of our needs and our wants. Electronic gadgets, televisions, cars, and toys overflow the closets and rooms of many. When we open our refrigerators, we have so many options for meals that it's common for food to actually go to waste. Meanwhile, more than 1 BILLION people live on just one dollar or less per day.


Two social justice teachers have started the One Dollar Diet Project during which they will each eat on a food budget of $1 per day. I'm very interested in following their project and how the experience goes for them. While my family lives simply in comparison to modern standards, we manage to make a mortgage payment, and we're certainly not starving. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to struggle to get by on just $1 a day.


It is making me think again about how I could simplify more, and give more. But perhaps it also goes deeper than simply giving money to the poor. Perhaps it is rooted more in our worldview that we all have a right to have more, more, more. It is a sad world we live in... the disparities between the "haves" and the "have-nots" seem to be growing and growing. And in this world it is not uncommon for there to be one person living on billions of dollars while billions of people are living on one dollar? I thank God that we have hope for a world transfigured... where there will be no more sorrow... and where, finally, the last shall be first.

Voice of the Voiceless

I am the voice of the voiceless:

Through me, the dumb shall speak;

Till the deaf world’s ear be made to hear

The cry of the wordless weak.

From street, from cage, and from kennel,

From jungle, and stall, the wail

Of my tortured kin proclaims the sin

Of the mighty against the frail.

For love is the true religion,

And love is the law sublime;

And all is wrought, where love is not

Will die at the touch of time.

Oh shame on the mothers of mortals

Who have not stopped to teach

Of the sorrow that lies in dear, dumb eyes,

The sorrow that has no speech.

The same Power formed the sparrow

That fashioned man-the King;

The God of the whole gave a living soul

To furred and to feathered thing.

And I am my brother’s keeper,

And I will fight his fight;

And speak the word for beast and bird

Till the world shall set things right.

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I live in the midst of an area that some might dub "Pennsylvania Dutch Country." And within a short drive from my house are "processing" plants in which pigs, cows, chickens, and turkeys are transformed from innocent, sentient beings into neatly-wrapped packages of meat.

More often than I would like, I am faced with the eyes of animals on their way to slaughter. And the feeling of helplessness wrenching at my heart and soul is nothing compared to theirs. I am free to drive on. They, on the other hand, have no escape from their fate. And, sadly, if I were to try to free them, I could potentially be arrested.

Saint Basil said, "O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our little brothers to whom Thou hast given this earth as their home in common with us. May we realize that they live not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee, and that they love the sweetness of life even as we, and serve Thee better in their place than we in ours." They love the sweetness of life, he said... Yet we rip this away from them. We imprison them in unnatural, cruel conditions and then kill them. Is this the kind of fellowship God intended when he created the animals to be Adam's first friends?

They cannot speak in our words, but look into the eyes of one of these beautiful creatures in an animal-transport truck, on their way to slaughter, and you will see their sorrow. God has given us free will, so we have a choice to make. God allows the eating of meat (animals), but He does not demand it. Have we really become so hardened and desensitized that we can turn a blind eye to their suffering? We can choose to be a part of their suffering and death, or we can choose to say "yes" to their lives, and to pray for an end to this madness.

A Blade of Grass

"I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go, the least plant may bring you the clear remembrance of the Creator. A single plant, a blade of grass or one speck of dust is sufficient to occupy all your intelligence in beholding the art with which it has been made."

- St. Basil the Great

I haven't posted much recently, because I have been focusing on preparing for our parish's vacation church school. Next week I am blessed to have an opportunity to be one of its teachers. Our focus is going to be "The Earth is the Lord's: Caring for God's Creation." My heart's deepest prayer and longing is that the children in my class will come away from the week seeing the deep beauty and significance of a blade of grass... of any of the seemingly small parts of God's creation.

Nothing is without significance. Everything God created has it's own unique and mysterious place in His creation. How easy it can be to forget this in a world where material posessions are prized more than the precious spiritual gems we find on our way toward communion with God. What a wonderful thing it is to stop the whirlwind of life and take time to simply "be" in the natural world... to contemplate this vast, brilliant creation which God has gifted to us to care for.

Friends of Adam

I started this blog with the intention of giving people hope. I intended to give all sorts of practical tips on things we could do in our everyday lives to help manifest a more compassionate world. Recently, however, it seems as though I've allowed to get myself bogged down in my sadness about animal suffering. I guess there's just an ebb and flow. But even when I'm struggling more with the grief and despair, I have still not given up hope.

I have recently revisited a wonderful book, "Animals and Man: A State of Blessedness," by Joanne Stefanatos, an Orthodox Christian and holistic veterinarian. The description of the books notes that it is, "A book that reveals the mysteries of God concerning man, animals and salvation." It is a wonderful book that speaks of God's original intent for His creation... that all would live in harmony, and that Man would lead creation in love. In the book, there are countless stories of Orthodox men and women living in peaceful coexistence with animals throughout the ages. A few weeks ago, I also purchased a copy of her second book, "Animals Sanctified: A Spiritual Journey." As noted in the description of the book, "This book is a revelation of Orthodox spirituality from the days of Jesus to the present, addressing the question, "How can we save ourselves and God's creation: the animals and the earth?"

I cannot tell you how much I treasure both of these books! To finally find something written by someone of my faith who addresses these issues is like a dream come true for me. I have often felt alone in circles of people who have compassion for animals, because they most often do not share a Christian faith. Then, in my own parish, I often feel alone because of my compassion for animals.... I think I may have been the only person in my parish who celebrated Pascha with an all-vegan feast. But to hear of another voice in the wilderness who so eloquently speaks of the sacred beauty of animals, and our God-given duty to be loving stewards to them, is music to my ears. I wish that all could read her words... perhaps more hearts would be softened toward the animals... the first friends of Adam.