Christmas.

Today is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. We Christians believe that Christ was God made man, the Son of God. However, there are huge numbers of non Christians who celebrate it as a season of love and goodwill - what Christ taught, so I think it is a good thing. I don't want this post to be a religious discussion and I am not going to rant about the commercialisation of Christmas. Suffice to say that I love Christmas and become like a child with excitement at Christmas.

So we celebrate, eat, drink, exchange presents and are merry. All good, nothing sinful except for some overindulgence and gluttony. Food is an important aspect of Christmas to many. Is the way we eat at Christmas in line with the teachings of Christ of peace, mercy and compassion? Think about it. I know that many do not realise or do not want to know how their foods of choice of their joyful celebrations cause pain and suffering to others. Think about that turkey drumstick, that slice of ham or beef you put in your mouth. The turkey died, the pig died, the cow died. They did not die in their sleep. They suffered painful deaths and were terrified.

Think about your future choices please Think about your next meal. My plea is that while you continue to celebrate the birth of Christ you do not continue to be the cause of pain and suffering of others of God's creatures. Even if you just make one day a non meat day, that will be a start and a great step. A step towards making Earth what God wanted it to be - a paradise where the lion lays down with the lamb.

A Blessed Christmas to all. Eat so nothing suffers!

What I Eat.

It has been three years eight months since I became fully vegetarian. It was something I wanted to do, something I felt I had to do, for some time. It was a decision based on ethics. I have always loved animals, how could I eat them. I tell people I like my animals "on the hoof", alive.

I have never accepted the contention that we have the right to use animals. "Use" as in use and abuse. I have had companion animals all my life and I have no problems with that as long as I treat them properly. My animals are part of my family and I never give them away.

It is said that you would never eat meat again if you "visited" an abbatoir a.k.a a slaughterho use. I wonder about the people who work there, who slaughter as a living. Do they become desensitised or were they already desensitised to want to work at such a job.

My choice is taken differently by different people. Some interrogate me in a hostile manner. Many take it as an inconvenience as vegetarian food must always be available at dinner parties I attend. Some are kind enough to prepare or order something specially for me. There are those who believe a salad or any vegetable would be a sufficient repast.

We have a few vegetarians in my family so I am not alone. We are still very much in the minority. I have been trying gentle persuasion so they will at least reduce their meat eating. Its tough going and if I push harder, they will just dig in their heeels.

Going vegetarian is just a start for me. I want to go vegan, no eggs or dairy products too. I have realised that most dairy cows do not live in the green pastures shown in television ads. Their calves are slaughtered for veal or raised for beef. They are all slaughtered eventually. This would apply to most egg laying hens too. Unfortunately, this illness of mine has left me with disability and problems with among other things, cooking. I have problems getting vegan meals. My diet is not the best but the best I can do in the circumstances. I may need a miracle to vegan but anything is possible.

Going vegetarian and of course vegan, is a better choice for all. There will be less pollutants, more people can be fed with grain, fruits and greens and animals do not need to be raised just to be slaughtered. Don't forget the health advantages.

I do not need animals, sentient beings to suffer and die painful deaths so I can eat indulgently. I have no right to do so. I am pro life - all life.

I do not want the lives of sentient beings to be taken so I can eat

Compassion or Judgment.

We pass this world but once as the poet says. How then shall we live our lives in this world?

Everone has problems. We all have our burdens to bear. There is always so much to do but very little time in which to do it all.

Most of us are basically good and we want to do good. There is so much going on in the world for us to take in, reflect on and make a decision whether to take any action in response. So how do we respond?

We can criicise, we can condemn mistakes made and bad decisions. We can disagree with someone else's viewpoint vehemently with pure vitriol in your voice or in what you write.

Why not instead, listen and help if you can. Show understanding. Sympathise, empathise, share in the pain of another

Show compassion, do not pronounce judgment.

Stewards or Masters.

We are human beings, the highest form of life in this world. We have been given intelligence, the ability to reason and free will. We have technology with which we have invented weapons to destroy the largest and the most aggressive animal there are. Our techology enables us to use the earth's resources to give us comfortable lives, at least the lives of people with the financial capacity and the power to acquire and harness resources.

So, we have the brains and the ability to decide what happens in this world. If you believe, then you know the world was created by God and Man was created by God. How do we deal with the rest of God's creation? If you do not believe in God and only in science, how do you see yourself with regard to nature, natural resources and animals?

Whether you believe in God or not, what do you think is your position in this world? If you are Christian, you know you are created in God's image. You would have read Genesis on the creation of the world, all creatures and us. So as the "superior"
beings, can we then be the dictators of Earth with the right to unleash death and destruction as we please? Are we masters of our own universe able to wield our "clubs" at will? Or, do we have a responsibility?

If you believe God created this world and all in it and in the skies,do we not have to account to God for the way we have used his creation. Even if you do not believe in God, do you not adhere to some morality which govern your actions? Do we use and abuse, our actions always based on selfishness and indulgence? I say no. Whatever your beliefs, you need to recognise the connection with all other living creatures. You have to answer if not to a God you believe in, to ourself and your conscience.

We are stewards of this world and all in and around it. Please take care of it.





'

A New Life Together.

When two people find each other and decide to spend the rest of their lives together, all who love them celebrate. Love is the greatest thing in life.

Not everyone is lucky enough to find a partner. Some choose a life dedicated to God, a life full of love, the love of God and of His creation. Some make the choice of excluding the love of that one person while giving an all encompassing love to God.

Those who find that special one and chose a life with her/him are also blessed by God. Why do people cry at weddings? I do. It is the wonder of the love felt betwen two persons. It is overwhelming.

Today my nephew marries a wonderful girl against a beautiful backdrop of autumn glory. This post is dedicated to our dear Armand and Amanda. May your new life together flourish with God's blessings.

The Saint and the Animals.

Tomorrow is the 4th of October. It is the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology/the environment in the Christian calendar. It is also World Animals Day.

You see how animals and the environment are grouped together, all part of God's creation, part of this world. Why should we give this respect and consideration to animals? Like it or not, there is a bond between human beings and animals, a special bond between living, feeling beings.

St Francis recognised this special bond. He preached to birds and other animals. He believed that we like the animals, should sing praise to God our creature. There is the story of St Francis and the wolf of Grubbo. This wolf was terrorising the town and all in it. St Francis was able to get the wolf to stop its reigh of terror and had a pact made between the town and the wolf. The toown people would feed the wolf and it would leave them in peace.

St Francis called animals his brothers and sisters. He saw a oneness between animals and us that many never want to see. This was in the 16th century A.D! He wrote the Canticle of the Creatures praising God's creatures and God. There is a plaque in the garden of St Claire, a follower of Francis, inscribed with this song of praise. I want to see it myself some day. Its in Italian but so what? I will lay my hands on it and run through each word.

St Francis was a lot more. He gave up everything to help the needy, to preach God's Word including peace. Even the Muslims repected him and he was given safe passage to the Holy Land. The St Francis Assisi Prayer for Peace was written to embody the spirit by which he lived, was written during the First World War. Read also and enjoy Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Sermon of St Francis. You may not be religious but he was a good man loved God and all life.

So, tomorrow, pat and praise your animals, know that they are God's creatures too and think of what you can do for ecology.

Peace be upon you.

Organic Farming.

When we eat organic food, we do not take in chemicals including pesticides. Animals are given antibiotics for growth and as a peventive because of the crowded, unhealthy non organic animal husbandry. Animals are treated more humanely in organic husbandry. In the US, the percentage of pesticides on non organic fruits is high ranging from about 93% for apples. Do we need all these toxins in our bodies?

There is more. Non organic farming with the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides result in carbon dioxide emission. It's the other way around for organic farming, Organic farming results in the absorption of carbon dioxide. I read that an acre of organic farmed land absorbs 3.25 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The pollutants from non organic farming are washed into rivers and sream, to contaminate them and destroy acquatic life.

Yes organic food is more expensive. That is largely due to the small market. The more people who eat organic, the more the prices will come down. With a larger market, more farmers will switch to organic farming. It is true that the prices of organic food are higher partly due to the fact it is more labour intensive. Organic animal husbandry takes up more space.Think of what you will save in terms of your health and the health of your families.

Go organic for goodness sake!

Make a Difference.

Make a difference in this world, you are using its air.

Do something for someone else, to reduce suffering of any kind, help clean up the Earth. It does not have to be major, every little thing helps.

Buy a meal for someone living on the streets. Pay the vaccination costs for the dog of an elderly person with a small income. Pick up rubbish thrown carelessly at a dustbin on a street corner and falling short.

You will find that the satisfaction it gives you may want you to do greater good deeds. You might want to contribute regularly to an orphanage, pick up strays and help home them. You might want to recycle.

It does not matter that no one knows the good you do. You know.

The Breath of Life.

We need to breathe in order to live. That's rather obvious. We need to breathe air in that mixture of gases that is found on Planet Earth.

So what happens if we continue to foul up this world's atmosphere at a rate greater than the rate at which Nature can clean up? That's obvious too. We run out of breathable air.

Please do not think it will never happen. Air pollution is great in major cities and in not so major cities in the world. The trees, the jungles and forests have been cut down, burnt, removed, whatever. How is the oxygen to be produced in sufficient quantities at sufficiently speedy rates. Industrialisation and development has caused a gigantic increase iin respiratory disorders in the last two centuries and there is no abatement.

We need the air that gives us life. This is the only world we have. The Moon and Mars can't support our lives.

Going Organic, Going Green.

Think about what you put into your mouths please. Think about what you give your children to eat. Go organic! Organic fruits, vegetables and crops are those grown without the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The very soil used should have been chemical free for a minimum number of years. Yes it is more expensive and it is a question of numbers. If more people switch to organic food, the prices will come down. Do without something else. It is your health and the health of your children. You can even buy organic milk. I will not go into organic meat as I am a vegetarian. I refuse to have rotting flesh in my gut. But, if you must eat organic meat from animals raised humanely and not injected with stuff nasty to them and to you.

Organic fruits and vegetables may not be look as pretty. They may not be perfectly shaped. Fruits like apples are not as glossy. They taste so much better.

Think also about what you use to clean - your floors, your bathrooms, your clothes. Use environmently friendly products which will not make you sick nor make or planet sick. You can get substances from your kitchen cupboards to help you clean windows and bathrooms, they are inexpensive. Go to the internet and learn more, you do not even have to buy books on the subject. Do you know that the chemicals used in drycleaning are toxic. Don't dryclean or reduce it to a minimum.

Go organic and not be sick. Go green and sill be clean.

Teach and Be Taught.

The world is such a beautiful place. Yes, it is still beautiful although Man has done much wrong to the world.

We have now to ensure that this planet is not ravaged further and that Nature has time and a chance to recuperate. How do we do this?

We need to teach our children the moral use of our world and its resources. They have to learn to be good and caring stewards of God's creation. In doing so, the world will remain for them and for their children, in all its glory.

How do we teach? We can't teach until and unless we have learned. We must be aware of and understand the damage being caused by development, by greedy use of natural resources, by the selfish "me, me and mine" attitude. We must be taught and learn.

Do not act like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand. You may well bury the world and us with it.

Step by step.

The hole in the Ozone layer, global warming, climate change, it goes on and on. What do we do about all this? How can we handle it? Will the actions of one person matter at all?

Yes they will and you do it step by step. We may not be experts, we may not understand the technical jargon but what we do matters. Just like a baby who learns to walk and to talk, we can make a difference one step at a time.

We cannot ignore the warnings or say "let's leave it to those who know". Do not feel overwhelmed. One right action will make a difference. Start with buying biodegradeable bin liners for instance. Go on to seperate your rubbish for recycling even if you are not required to do so by law. By eco friendly cleaning products. Buy organic produce. I have switched to e-statements for my credit cards, a small thing yes, but something.

A small step, a baby step for the environment to help me, you and yes, babies.

Beauty.

I appreciate beauty. I am sure most people do. Those who can't must have something seriously wrong with them.

They say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". This stands true for many things. All babies are beautiful to their mothers. Fathers? Well, that may be a different proposition. I am sure mother hyenas feel the same way about their babies.

A model with symetrical features may be the epitome of beauty to some, another with a slightly crooked smile and eyes you want to drown in, may be that to others.

There is beauty that is beauty to everyone. Look around you. This is the beauty of our world, created by God. It is beauty whether it is a single rose in all its delicacy or whether it is a majestic waterfull thundering down into a river.

We need to do more than stand and stare. We need to make sure that this true beauty remains.

Giving and Taking.

We take. We take from society, we take from others, we take from this world. What is the ecological footprint for 2009. What is our demand on this planet's ecosystems today?

Human beings consume like there is no tomorrow. There will be no tomorrow if we continue our greedy consumption, or it will be a tomorrow we would not want to live in.

We cannot live like ostriches with our heads in the sand, ignoring what is happening around us, what happens in our world. We eat too much while children starve. We push in the name of development, animals become extinct. We ignore the environment, Nature fights back.

What about giving back. Life is good - help others. Life is not too good - help others and at least you will feel better for the doing. Slow down all this development so there is sustainment and time for regeneration.

We need to rein in our hunger and let Nature take a breath.

Purpose and being Purposeful.

We should all have a purpose in life. There is no real life without purpose.

What better purpose is there than to make the world a better place for all in it, flora and fauna, human and otherwise.

With purpose, there should be action. We can't sit around and wait for someone else to do the work.

In this blog I shall give my views on what I believe we should do to help others, help our earth and help ourselves. I will do research but some of what I say you will hear from others. Many feel the way I do and that makes me glad.

Have purpose, be purposeful and you will receive unexpected joy.

Life.

I am pro life - all life. I am pro my life, I am pro your life, I am pro animal life and I am pro the life of this world.

Many look only after themselves and theirs. They have this "me, me and mine" attitude. That is so short sighted. If we do not take care of this world, it will die and we with it. Our lives are entwined with the lives of animals, the animals go, we go.

Let us look out at the beauty in this world and savour it. Let us help animals survive, we have taken so much from them and we continue to take. Let us open our eves and really see the inhumanity, the suffering of children, the weak, the helpless.

There is still hope for the world and all who live in it. Please join me and the others who want to do something, anything, to stop this spiralling downwards.

We can do it.