HELLO!

Our Sacred Nature faith study continues Tuesday November 3^rd at 7 pm in the Sams Room, our focus this week is Sacrifice. Karen Armstrong begins her fifth chapter confronting the western European perspective on animal sacrifices, namely that they are offensive. “Animal sacrifice was central to ancient religion. Today we regard it as cruel and barbaric, but our ancestors would be equally, if not more, by the casual butchering of millions of beasts in our abattoirs everyday”. There was a sacredness to these rituals, where the humans involved verbalized a gratitude and respect for the animals themselves, an approach that would be carried over to their relationship with nature in their daily lives.

Armstrong asserts that while we here, today, do not kill animals in our rituals per say we do treat animal life without any sense of them being sacred, apart from our pets. I remembered a casual conversations starter a colleague of mine used with a university youth group, Russ asked the 20 Kings and Dal students, “Given that cats, which are not indigenous to this place, kill so many birds that are indigenous to our landscape, be it resolved that citizens have a right to kill cats they find outside, on the prowl for birds.” Needless to say, this debate sparked a lot of passion. Russ remarked to the gathering how different our response was, emotionally, to the killing of birds to that of cats, how differently we react to the killing of animals generally to the death of cats and dogs.

Armstrong uses the example of Hindus to suggest “sacrifice” can lead to deeper compassion. “Hindus daily place a small bowl of food outside for hungry animals”. Armstrong reminds us that the word “sacrifice” comes from the Latin, “to make Holy”. The emphasis is on the consecration or divinisation of an animal or person. “Every day we should try to honour in our minds the holiness of every single natural object and person that we encounter. Every day, we will probably fail, but each time we should try and start again. Knowing that each person we come across is a holy mystery and that each animal or plant has its own unique dignity and beauty is central. All must be treated with kindness and reverence”.

Peace, Kevin

PS Over the last two months, in email correspondence, the most commented on part of our natural world has been the moon. I include this photo by my friend Brian of the moon. I believe the moon has reminded us of how we are part of something much larger than self.