IN THE NAME OF LOVE

Togier Berge Photographer, photo used with permission

In the eyes of the law, the fox kit was out of place, a weed, expendable. To me, his individual life was precious, his death arbitrary.

                                                                                          Priscilla Stuckey

All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

                                                                                          Buddha

Fragmentation, competition, and reactiveness represent three key aspects of cultural dysfunction, in organizations and society. They are not just isolated behaviors but powerful strategies that have outlived their usefulness.

                                                                                          Peter Senge and Fred Kofman

     

The first quote broke me when I first read it. It broke me the third and the fourth times too. Broke through my sluggishness. Life expendable? Dylan has it right, “the answer is blowing in the wind.”

In Kissed By a Fox, Priscilla Stuckey writes of our western creation story that shaped a rupture in our understanding of the world. It is the separation story of mind split from body and spirit from matter. Tracking Descartes, Plato, Augustine, Malthus and Hobbes, Pricilla brings to light the western confabulated creation story, producing hosts of paradigms: humans steeped in original badness, (and there is nothing we can do about it); animals as unfeeling mechanistic forces; and the belief that if we cut ourselves from our bodily experience, heaven will redeem us. Well, “basta” on that.

History books and the media sirens are rampant with old embedded views, moldy cheese stories. Even the mice don’t want that cheese. Who Moved My Cheese? What I love about paradigms is that untruth can be released. Poof! Goodbye old world-views. Hello life connection!

“In the Andean story,” Priscilla writes, “humans as well as llamas, potatoes, maize, beans, ancestors, rains, and mountains all keep life running smoothly by loving and allowing themselves to be loved.” West African couple, Sobonfu and Malidoma, says that each child is raised knowing they were born to bring a special gift to the village.  Basil, Francis, Thoreau, Butterfly Hill and The Achuar found radiance in connection with our environment, taking stands to protect and honor Father Sun, Sister Moon and Mother Earth. Unlikely Loves written by Jennifer S. Holland chronicles animals who share love between species as they bear their special gifts.

Jennifer writes of Piper of Oklahoma, a Pit Bull, who was first responder in licking rejected baby goat back to life. “Piper and GP (Goat Puppy) were like Mother and Son after Piper revived the little goat that night.” Posed Paws, a group of pet photographers, posted this jewel of love between the species, http://posedpaws.ca/edmonton-pet-photographer/real-life-fox-and-the-hound-best-friends-will-melt-your-heart/. In 2010, the positive news media reported the story of Buddy the German Shepherd, that went viral. Buddy raced to get the lost Alaskan state trooper after Ben Heinrichs let Buddy out of their burning house. Once found, Buddy raced ahead, leading the trooper to the burning house and his family in need.

Martin Buber also got it right. We exist in relatedness. There is the I-Thou relationship. The Wind’s been blowing into a better creation story all along. Many of us are setting sail. The fox kit, indeed ALL life, is not expendable.

Togier Berge, Photographer, used with permission