Saturday, Mar. 08, 2014 - 9:30 p.m.
Animal Souls
*************
I had a conversation with
a Mennoniote the other day
who announced animals have no souls.
I politely enquired
" how is this known to you?"
She responded " I was taught that "
I asked " like in a formal situation
or by a life experience that suggested that?"
She said she was told
that when she was young
I smelled a opportunity to drill in
and asked
" As we talk right now
you are teaching me
and I am teaching you,
That is the nature of conversation"
she agreed
I asked
" am I obliged to believe you
or are you obliged to believe me
just because we discuss something? "
" Oh no, of course not "
" in your own experience,
have you seen convincing evidence
of human souls ? "
" Yes " she repilied," everyday,
I even see your soul"
And" I see and salute your soul
have you ever seen an animals soul ? "
she was unsure
since she just said
animals have no soul
just as she was taught
I continued in my usual charming way
" I have heard that
animals have no souls
that they have small spoils,
that they have equal souls,
and also that they have larger souls than people�
all fine and dandy.
but my true life experience
shows me that
the animals I know
and get to know indeed
have souls at least
as large as my own
I take heed of instruction
of others but the idea is
to pay attention to instruction
and then use that instruction
to move forward
and make my own discoveries.
None of this negates
what teachers have told me
or what I teach others
but I say in truth
that I have seen my cats soul,
and watched him grow
as he grew and trusted me
and made discoveries
and mistakes all on his own,
- and believe me..
my cat never ever listen to me�
thats part of his soul
to only learn from his own experiences
All my cats have instincts same as I do
but they were not born with many instincts,
especially about dodging cars
and evading coyotes
as I saw him learn
and I watch carefully _
I watch him make mistakes
and make friends with other animals
and distrust people
unless I introduce them to him
he trusts me and trusts what I give him
' be that food, or comfort
or point out what t people
are worth meeting
She did not like the fact that
knowledge that was not handed over intact
was not as good or trustworthy
as knowledge that was handed out
I am sorry
but I made her doubt her belief system
of how we learn things
I did not push her
but the fact that I had her thinking
if animals had souls
sort of made her doubt
her Mennonite system
but I didn't mean that
I just didn't want her
to miss out on
meeting animals souls
just because someone
told her there were not any out there
Oh well.
we are friends because
I stepped in some years ago
when she was in a car crash
and sort of politely but firmly
asked everybody
to leave the vehicle
when they were frozen in shock..
My theory was to get out
before or if vehicle caught on fire
and they couldn't out
Smokes was rolling out of the engine
it did not look safe to me
anyway, thats drama in Niagara
that let's me converse
with a Mennonite woman
who would otherwise not talk
much to outsiders,
and certainly not say nothing of value.
Maybe she is watching out now
for animals souls
or my soul
or oncoming traffic
