A few nights ago I was feeling very sad and I started crying about so many things, especially the suffering of the farm animals. Then I sat in meditation and calmed my mind. A little later, I was looking at a photo of an owl on a snowy branch with his wings spread up towards the sky, and I started thinking about how so many humans are in awe of wildlife, like owls, yet they eat other animals, like chickens….
Somehow those humans are able to compartmentalize, thereby relegating some animals, like owls, a revered sacred status, while seeing other animals as “just chickens” who they justify as being merely bred for humans to eat.
Breeding chickens by the billions does not take away their feelings. They are still living beings with families, and they feel emotions just like cats and dogs… So, a shed crammed with ten thousand breeder chickens is a shed filled with suffering.
As those thoughts went through my mind, I realized that a blog post was ‘downloading’ and I jotted down some ideas in my binder, including a note to use the photo of the owl with orange eyes. Then I went to sleep…. And then, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by an owl calling right outside my window! The clock read 5:17….
I’ve never heard an owl here at that hour, although we’ve occasionally heard them in the evening or around midnight… So this was unusual… I was still too asleep to get up and look out the curtain, but I could tell that he was on the branch right outside, just above my writing desk. He made his call three times, loudly and clearly, and then there was silence, and I fell back to sleep….
In the morning I felt astounded by that occurrence. It felt like magic! A spiritualist would say that the owl was a gift from beyond, that he was a messenger affirming that I am doing exactly what I should be doing, in writing for the animals. A rationalist would say that it was a “coincidence.” I’m not sure what I believe, but the word “synchronicity” resonates for me here. With a grateful mind, I’m just relishing in the possibility and the mystery of it.
The owl in the photo with this post commands attention and respect. And in fact, his tribe is respected and protected in the United States, where it is illegal to hold owls in captivity, and it is illegal to be in possession of owl feathers or eggs. The law protects owls from being eaten, so owls live in freedom, without fear of being hunted. This is how it should also be for chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese. And, this is how it should be for all the farm animals and fish. They should live in freedom, without fear of humans killing them.
Veganism honors all animal life, so vegans do not eat any flesh or fluids from animals. Meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and honey harm living beings, and there are plenty of healthy plant foods to eat, so that harm is unnecessary. If you are not yet vegan, please consider the animals as living beings, and I hope that soon you will step into a new non-harming chapter of your life.
The time has come for veganism, and I welcome it with my entire heart, mind, body, and spirit.
✨🌟🪶🦉🌟✨🪶🦉🌟✨
Owl: Chräcker Heller on Pixabay.
