Imbolc and the Valentine Moon
Saturday gratefuls: Kep. The insistent one. Doug, the painter. Starting the first week of March. Rich Levine. A smart guy. Breakfast. Alan, packing. Marilyn and Irv. Ice fisherfolk in Minnesota. May the water be crystal clear and filled with fish. Ice fisherfolk in Colorado. May the ice hold you up. Ice. Lighter than liquid water. We should all be very grateful for this anomaly. The James Webb, peeking behind the curtain of time that vast distance throws up.
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Rich’s class on practical philosophy
Kep has decided that 5:45 is his sweet spot. He wants out and me up. 5:45 is also a sweet spot for me. In dreamland. Guess whose needs come first? The good news is that he doesn’t wake me up in between so…
Mussar lesson this week focused on a Talmudic commentary on animals. Feed your animals first. The conversation got into some deep places about animals. Why feed animals first? Because, like infants, they can’t be sure food is coming when they’re hungry. They suffer from this uncertainty so it is our responsibility to see to their needs first. We can delay gratification, know that our food awaits us. Not so with the animal.
The conversation went toward the emet, or the truth, of the animal’s needs. We acknowledge the truth of their reality, their hunger, and their feelings. This encourages us toward chesed, or loving kindness, toward the animals for whom we have responsibility. In my world this includes Kep and my wild neighbors.
Interestingly though the human response is different toward our wild neighbors. We do not feed them at all. Why? Because they become habituated to human food and human contact. Begin to lose their fear of humans. Then bad things happen. Like Bears entering houses. Cars. Sometimes threatening people. When a wild animal threatens a human, that animal will be first relocated. But if and often when it returns, it is euthanized.
Our care and concern for their life shows up in other ways. Paying close attention to the road and Mountainsides for animals about to enter and/or cross. Maintaining good habitat that our wild neighbors can rely on. Learning about their habits and lives so we can interfere as little as possible. An example here is not allowing antler collection until May. Why? Because late winter and early spring sees the birth of Elk calves, Mule Deer fawns, and disruption of their lives during that time can lead to the death of the young ones.
And, yes, this all leads toward the vegetarian argument. Wish I could get there, but I can’t. Talk about habituation. Eating less and less red meat, but still eating fish. Chicken. Pork. Eggs.
If you haven’t read Heather Cox Richardson today, I recommend her. She makes the case for a liberal view of governments role in society. Here’s a paragraph:
“In contrast to the Republican theory, President Joe Biden and the Democrats have revived the theory embraced by members of both parties between 1933 and 1981. That theory says that the federal government has a role to play in the economy, regulating business, providing a basic social safety net, investing in infrastructure, and protecting civil rights. Rather than freeing capital for those at the top, Democrats want to invest in ordinary Americans who will, they believe, spend their paychecks, thus building the economy as they move money directly into the hands of their neighbors.” HCR, 2/4/2023
This is a minimal understanding, but perhaps an achievable one. Politics is the art of the possible.
