A friend asked me this question recently as we walked the dogs one weekend. She had just spent a lot of money to care for one of her dogs who, I am happy to report, is now much better and back to doing what he does best… distributing dog hair over every surface of her house. I had recently spend almost as much money on Blondie’s dental surgery. We were commiserating about the costs and she clearly wondered if we all just hadn’t lost our collective minds over how much we paid for our pets.
I didn’t know how to answer her then but I do now.
We are the kind of people who bring love and kindness to all of God’s creatures in the belief that what we do for the least of them will send a ripple effect out to the world and maybe, just maybe, make it a kinder and gentler place for everyone. We are the kind of people who could not look at any creature’s suffering and walk away from it if there was any chance of doing something to alleviate it. We are the kind of people who volunteer in our community and feel a responsibility to do what we can to make the quality of life of all its inhabitants – from the largest to the smallest – as good and healthy as possible.
We are the kind of people that the world could use one helluva lot more of if we are ever to see a time of peace and brotherhood.