Ramblings on food, energy, and other stuff

Once we understand that all things are connected by their energies, that what we do and how we do it affects all including ourselves, only then will we know peace and an end to cruelty. When we injure another creature, we injure ourselves.  Perhaps not physically, but we do so mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Every injury we inflict hardens our heart, numbs our conscience, and allows us to more readily rationalize the next.   Take a moment to grasp the snowball effect that happens.  Just as a snowball rolling down hill gains weight and momentum with every turn making it more and more unstoppable, so does every injury inflicted makes the next easier for us to inflict.  It removes us a little more from our humanity which is the only thing that keeps us from total, unfeeling cruelty to others. My Beloved and I are vegetarian, bordering on vegan.  We do eat eggs from organic, free-range (not just cage-free), vegetarian-fed chickens.  We eat butter from organic, cow-friendly, drug-free dairies.  And we eat cheese from organic, cow-friendly, drug-free dairies that has been processed with non-animal rennett.  Most commercially available cheeses are made using animal rennet.  This rennet comes from the lining of the stomach of slaughtered calves.  To the best of our knowledge, and we work diligently to educate ourselves on this matter, no animals were harmed or mistreated in the creation of our meals.  This is very important to us. I have personally witnessed the cruelty of stockyards and slaughterhouses; there was one of each where I grew up.  When I was a teenager (late '60s) I hung out at the local stockyards for a while, until I could no longer stand watching the torment the animals went through there.  Shock prods, rat bites, living in mud of manure and urine, whips, and sharp sticks were constants in the cattle and horses kept there until they were sold.  I never hung out at the slaughterhouse (stank too bad there), but I would often drive by on the way to a friends house.  Several times I saw live cows being dragged behind a tractor with a chain around their neck.  I know they were alive because they were kicking and lurching, fighting to stand, but couldn't. Many discount the cruelty of so-called factory farms often revealed in PETA and US Humane Society videos as being isolated incidents or scenes taken out of context for shock value.  I don't dispute that some of that occurs.  We all tend to enhance the points of view we desire to get across to others.  In the sales profession it's called "puffing".  But my personal experiences roughly 35 years ago tell me that it isn't all puffing and shock value.  Frankly, I cannot in good conscience, adhering to my personal values, support an industry with foundations so deeply woven from the cruelty and torture of living creatures. If the industry cleaned up its act and began pampering their animals until they were finally killed humanely and painlessly with gratitude given to the animal for its life, would I go back to eating meat?  No, not likely.  I've not had beef and pork for over two years now, about 1 1/2 years since my last chicken or turkey, and about a year since my last fish/seafood.  I can honestly say I have no desire for meat.  The thought of beef and pork is repulsive and turns my stomach.  Although the rest don't have that effect, when I think of eating any of them there's no more appeal than there is for eating cardboard. One last thing.  I'm not one of those hard-core "if you eat meat you're evil" miltant vegans.  Far from it.  If you want to eat meat, that's your decision.  Enjoy.  But I do ask one thing.  If you give thanks to your God for your meal, that's wonderful, but don't stop there.  Before you dig in, pause for a moment to thank the animal whose life was taken for your nourishment.  Also asking its spirit for forgiveness is even better.  This may sound foolish to you, but consider what I said at the beginning of this entry.  I may be wrong, but I may not. Blessings to you all.