LIVING OUR BELIEFS

A few weeks ago I went to hear a speaker who has a book out entitled "The World Peace Diet". I knew nothing about him, but I loved the title of the book! With all the diet books out, why not one that promotes peace? His name is Will Tuttle, and his talk was really powerful and disturbing. While I wasn't on board with everything he said, his basic premise really resonated: we are not living our beliefs when it comes to food. Of course it got me thinking about how that is true in other areas than just food, but let me share his concepts first, and then spin off on my tangents as I tend to do!

Part of what was so disturbing was the videos he showed of animal farming. I've never seen anything like this before, and some of it was so horrific I actually had to turn my head away. Just like I think every person who creates garbage (that would be all of us) should be required to tour a landfill to see why we need to make different choices, I now think everyone should have to see videos of animal farming so you know what you are contributing to. Even vegans need to see this so they can talk about it with others who are not vegan. Mr. Tuttle says we have dis-connected from the cruelty because we can't face the truth. It's too shameful. After seeing these images, I think everyone would agree. I don't know ANYONE who would watch this and say "yah, that's something I want to finance and condone! Let's have more of THAT!" And yet we do finance and condone it every single day by our choices for food. How is this possible? How did we get to a place where our beliefs are not lived in our choices? What person reading this would say "I believe in mutilation, violence, cruelty, and slavery"? I'm quite sure not one. And yet how many of us know or have thought about what happens with the animals on our plate? Animals have instincts like we do to escape mutilation and violence, raise their children, and live outside cages. But we have decided it is somehow o.k. to put them in cages so small they can't turn around because the meat would get "tough", take their children from them, mutilate them like whacking off their beaks so they can't peck, and the list goes on. If you saw these videos you would probably be as horrified as I was. So why is this o.k.???? What happened to compassion? We are literally eating misery. And how can this change unless enough people say it is NOT o.k.? I'm not talking about the world becoming vegan. I'm talking about the end to cruelty in our food choices. Just don't accept it any more. If enough people are willing to live their beliefs the big factory animal farms won't be able to continue these practices. One of the things Mr. Tuttle said that was so powerful was this: "Our actions are prayers. Are we praying for violence?" Wow.

So here come my tangents. Most people that I know believe that God created the Earth and all the plants and creatures. Do any of them believe that God asks us to destroy the Earth and all the plants and creatures? Not that I know of. Not one. So why are we choosing that every single day? Why are we not living our beliefs? Nature has become a "thing" to be owned and used. Simply "resources" that we can use up, poison, annihilate in any way we want? Who believes that is what God wants? And if we don't believe that, then why are we living that way? What will it take for us to live what we say we believe and cherish Creation? Wouldn't that be GLORIOUS!

How many people reading this would say they believe greed is a good thing? Probably none. So why do we take more than we need ALL THE TIME? We take more food than we need, more clothes than we need, more "things", bigger houses than we need, bigger cars, on and on. And yet we say we don't believe in greed. Look at the way we are living. I live quite a simple life, and yet when I went to move and started to decide what I needed to keep, I was STUNNED at how much I had that I could give away because I didn't need it. It comes from just being able to take more than we need. We take what we CAN. However much we can afford usually. Not how much is necessary. What if we started LIVING our belief that greed is not a good thing? If there was no consequence it wouldn't really matter. But the consequences of our taking what we can has HUGE repercussions for the Earth. The sheer volume of "stuff" that is not necessary is spewing mountains of pollution in the air, soil and water that we all need to survive. There will come a time when this is finally clear to everyone, but the damage will have been done. How about we stop this damage now, simply by living what we say we believe? It can happen. I know it can. But people have to be willing to really look at the way they live their lives and the choices that do harm. I truly hope that humanity will rise to this challenge and SEE the effect of the "more, more, more" mentality. This is not about living in a sense of lack. Abundance does not have to do damage to the Earth. Abundance can take other forms than just material things that spew pollution every time they are made or used. What if we live by this motto: "Take what you need, not what you can".

So I ask each of you to really look at your beliefs and if you are living them. If not, isn't it time to shift that? It has to happen inside each one of us. Awareness, and then action.
Thanks for listening.