I heard a terrible thing on our local news last night. Three teen-age boys were caught beating animals to death. I don’t know any other particulars but they were showing a goat on TV. I would assume animals small enough to beat on without being large enough to retaliate.

I know I harp on the plight of mistreated animals a lot so you know what’s coming. You may stop here or go on. We are required to treat our animals with dignity, food, water and safe surroundings. This isn’t the ASPA or any other organization. It’s from the Bible. Again, if you don’t want to hear about the Bible….stop here.

We will be judged for the way we treat our animals. We will be judged for the way we work for our employer and how we treat those who may work for us. None of this is hard to understand and for those of you who are not concerned about what the Bible says, you may be part of the problem, as they say.

In our Southern part of the State there have been a lot of cattle rustling. There is always an isolated case of such but with the economy like it is there have been more frequent reports. And this isn’t the only sad state of affairs for animal cruelty. A large plant has been built to slaughter horses just a few miles up the road. Canada and Mexico are big buyers and so the poor equines who have been stranded on farm property with AWOL owners end up for slaughter. They have been starved and in terrible shape and their reward for clinging to life is the slaughter industry.

It doesn’t make me mad, it just makes me terribly sad. I believe in the dignity of animals. I treat mine with respect. I know they aren’t people and don’t think like people. They are cats, a dog and a peacock. As we don’t always understand how to live correctly for God, they, likewise, don’t always know how to react to what we expect of them.

I’m not a tree-hugger nor am I one who throws paint on someone wearing a fur coat. I just have a love for animals. Because of that I have tried to save any stray who comes hungry and scared to my door. If you’ve ever been alone, hungry and scared you know the feeling and the fear.

May God grant that some day man will realize animals are a creation and give so much back to the ones of us who care about them. In the world to come I know this will be the way it is…………….

Essentially Esther

People come in and out of our lives during different stages of our journey. Some are brief and for some reason we lose touch. For quite a few years, America was on the move. We had neighbors move in and out on our street fairly often. Finally, I was the one to leave.

When we leave a neighborhood, there’s so much we think we will never miss. From rocks in a flower garden, to the neighbors who became friends, I expected things would go on much the same. I am not a professional “mover.” Therefore I had no idea how things left behind would become more precious and troubling as well.

As I think about it, I have only had two moves of some distance but with the last one, my intent was to never move again. The operative word there is “intent”…….I know it is folly to say “never” but it has now been forty-one years since moving on this little acre.

Computers help keep us in touch with family and friends as do cell-phones. However, today I had a letter from a dear friend that came out of the snail-box. My friend and I laugh and say we’re old fashioned and I know we are, but having a letter out of the mailbox was special, no matter what we are.

We have held the world in our arms and never flinched………..

Essentially Esther

How long has it been since you met a car and no one was talking on a cell-phone? When first introduced, cell-phones were helpful in many ways to those in need of them. They seldom found their way to those who didn’t see them as necessary. I am one who doesn’t like a lot of gadgets. Therefore, cell-phones didn’t interest me at the time.

How many hours a day are you free of sound contamination? From the time most of us get up until we fall in bed, we are beleaguered with sounds of every kind. I see joggers and bike riders with head-phones. Once outdoor activities were an opportunity to do some thinking or just letting our minds flatten out a little.

I think behind it all is my reluctance to change. I grew up and lived in an entirely different world. One day my generation woke up and all the rules were changed. I have always loved elderly people and history. Maybe I got lost in there somewhere. At any rate it was possible to be quiet, to have quiet and to respect others space about noisemaking devises. Cars didn’t go by with sound so loud it made the car shake.

I enjoy sports but the crowd noise makes me crazy. Malls are caverns of racket and voices echoing up and down the main walkways. Noise on every side in this day and age seem to make people stressed and anxious. Just so you know this isn’t all me talking, take notice and count your quiet times for one day ……you might be surprised.

It seems silence is the next endangered object to leave us.

Essentially Esther