IS KINDNESS LEGAL?

IS KINDNESS LEGAL?

I have long been confused by the incredibly uneven standards and statements proclaimed these days over what is kind and what is cruel.  As I was reading Matthew 11 in The Message, I was struck by a sentence which was part of Christ’s reply to the Pharisees about “working on the Sabbath” by healing.  He comes back with the example of anyone owning a sheep being willing to rescue that sheep from danger even on the Sabbath, for kindness sake. Then (in The Message) He said, “Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!”  This made me wonder if the scale today is really even in that respect.

Several years ago I became the care giver for one out of several feral cats because my Steve decided he wanted company during the day when I was at work, so he befriended one of these cats.  Well, she had a litter of kittens that I fell in love with and things got pretty awful, pretty fast.  I tried to get her spayed, but no free clinics were available in our area and no shelters for cats existed at all, and I just happened to be unable to finance the situation myself as I was struggling to make ends meet.  But, in trying to get her spayed and later trying to get her daughter (the love of my life) spayed, I discovered that even if you had the money the vets would not do it if there was any “sign of life” in her.  And there always was because she was always already pregnant by the time she weaned her kittens.  I cannot tell you how many kittens we gave away before we finally got that job done.  Momma died first, but daughter Polo was a very strong girl and she made it to a spaying, after which we both breathed much easier.

Today, there are many shelters and free clinic spayings and a lot of willing helpers out there.  But the line I am always hearing which stands out to me is that every kitty and every puppy and every other animal that is bred deserves to live at all cost.  I guess that I should research whether the same, “no sign of life” policy still exists.  I am assuming it does because that fits with the temperament of the day… about animals.  Animals have a right to live.  And anything less than an all out effort to that end is cruelty, including spaying a female who is showing “signs of life” within her.

And, yet…

Do I really have to write this next line, or can you fill it yourself?  When animals are pregnant, they show “signs of life within.”  But when women are pregnant, they just have a blob of indefinable flesh within.  It is okay to remove that blob, even the baby that is actually being born, if there is any question about what the birth will bring to the mother.  Is that pathetically sad or what.  Jesus was positioned to announce that kindness to humans is at least as legal as kindness to animals.  Be kind to humans.  Let them be born and nurtured at least as well as dogs and cats.  Save the animals, save the trees, but save the humans, too!

And now I can say no more.  May God bless us as we stand firm on behalf of the lives of those who are considered less important to the world or too much of a nuisance to be of value.  God help us spread this word for Your sake, Lord.  Amen