These sentiments will undoubtedly run contrary to, and collide spectacularly with, the Christian upbringing of my youth. Furthermore, the use of the following scriptural reference as a justification of my position will most certainly firmly cement my position at a burning stake in some minds:
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11)
Now, as I have seen years of what this world contains and the actions of our race of human “beings” toward our world and our existence, I have formed my own “manly” ideas in place of the childish lessons impressed upon me all those years ago. I cannot help but to divine “soul” within in the eyes of my faithful furry sensei. There is as much, if not more, depth of emotion and connection in this gaze as I have ever witnessed in many other humans of my own race. There is a calmness to his eyes, a willing response to my every move and an attentive gaze that keeps him somehow mystically attuned to my attitude and spirit. His calm demeanor belies the fact that this as much as a “being” of his own kind as any human “being” that surrounds him. This same being within him that shrinks from the sight and sound of a simple plastic garbage bag, I confidently know would, without hesitation, leap to my protection against assailants unknown with bone crushing force and without regard for his being’s safety. In these days, where so many of us human beings spend significant energy on finding ways to categorize each of us into divisions so we can separate ourselves, how can we deny the existence of how a true soulful being should manifest itself. In the end, I have to ponder which of these beings are the more evolved……
