exerpts i liked
from the freshly finished The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery…
“Some people consider their animals their substitute children. Certian psychologists explain away the loving relationships between people and animals in terms of thwarted parenthood. There psychologists have identified a group of physical traits, such as the flat face and big eyes of pug dogs, that they call “baby releasers”, and claim the sight of these activiate a torrent of misplaced maternal feelings towards animals.”
especially funny since psycho jen has had three pet pugs in the last three years. and is now pregnant with twins after bitching endlessly about not being able to get pregnant.
“…I stubbornly refused to blame the snake for all the trouble with Adam and Eve. I suspected God did, too. After all, He kicked the people out of Eden, but He let the snake stay. Ever since we left that garden, we have been longing for Eden. It is a testament to human blindness that so few of us find it.”
love the reference to the garden, and the fact that even though the snake tempted Eve; it wasn’t the temptation we remember, it is Eve’s giving in to the temptation that men hold against us.
“Often - too often - despite medicine and prayer, despite strength and faith, the ones we love are torn from us, sometimes viciously, for reasons no one can fathom.”
no comment necessary.
and lastly….
“The word compassion means “with suffering”. To have compassion is to willfully join in suffering - to show those you love that you will not let them suffer alone. And this is the most you can do: offer your presence.”