Defense against Animals Sermon 6-1-08

     Some of you know that I had a run in with a Hornet a few weeks ago. I reacted with speed and violence when it stung me. I do not regret taking this life. It was for my safety that killed the Hornet.

     I was opening a window to let in some fresh air. The window had been closed for the Winter. The weather was great and I had already opened every other window in my place. There was a great Gulf breeze coming through the Apartment. I was looking forward to smelling the Sea air again. I’m only a block from the Seawall so I can hear the surf and smell the fresh air.

     There was no sign of this Hornet outside the window when I started to open it. I had to use both hands to work the window up. When it finally started to move I gave it a little extra effort to open it fully. As it nested fully open I felt the sting. It felt like a hot poker had stabbed through my left wrist. It was very intense and sudden.

     Without seeing what had attacked me I hit my wrist with my open palm as hard as possible. It all happened by instinct as a reaction to the pain. It was a shock to me. When I looked down I saw a stunned Hornet on my floor. I crushed it with my foot before it could recover if it was not already dead. I was determined to insure I was not stung again.

     Then I had to tend to my injury. I’m allergic to some insects. I swallowed antihistamine and applied an ice pack on the area quickly. My arm swelled but did not get worse. My wrist was immobilized by the swelling. I had to work that night. I normally need to lift trays up to 60 pounds with instruments so I was wondering how I would cope. God was good to me. I had very few trays that night and none that were heavy.  I was so happy that I’d be off the next couple of days to recover after that. It took a week for the rest of the swelling and redness to subside.

     This event gave me inspiration for this Sermon. I normally am a very protective person towards animals. So this killing of the Hornet was out of character if looked at on the surface.

     When I was a kid I was the one who offered to catch and bring these creatures outside where they could do no harm. Spiders were one of my favorite to take outside. I learned how to catch and release Bees, Wasps, Spiders and other scary creatures. When Mom was thinking she would call me to get them out of her location.

     When I started school I continued the practice. Up to and including defending the stray insect or animal that was getting ready to die at some other students hands or feet as the case might be. I finally convinced my teacher that they had a Right to Live Too. I would take them where they needed to be to survive with out bothering anyone.

     My Brother had the same instincts but for him they back fired sometimes. When there would be Bees around they would land on me. Sometimes they would land on my hand so I could marvel in them. They never stung me. Of course I did not try to detain them or hurt them. My Brother was fascinated by this. I tried to tell him how I did it but he had his own style. Bless his heart; he wanted to “pet” them. When he did they would sting him out of fear. He never understood that he could be scaring them into defending themselves.

     As time went on I developed a reputation of being good with animals. It did not always work, but I tried to help them when I could. This brings me to how the Church of Thomas sees animals.

     We believe that Animals all have their places in the World. Even if we find them repugnant. We believe they have a Right to live in their environments. We also think that in cases like the Hornet I killed it is OK to defend our safety and wellbeing. Now how do we draw the line between rampant disregard for life and letting these creatures co-exist with us?

     There is nothing in our Teachings that mandates that we must never kill another creature. In the Hindu Religion there is a belief in the Sanctity of all life. Literally to kill flour beetle could mean killing the incarnation of your great aunt. They see these incarnations as responses to how a former life was lived; to reward or punish. But because the life is the lesson, they do not judge the value of that soul.

     There are some followers that look constantly at the ground to ensure they do not kill anything. They sift the flour for their bread to ensure there is no animal that might mistakenly be eaten and killed when they baked their bread.

     Until recently there was much more contact between wild animals and people. When you farm you have constant reminders that there was a lot more life out there with us than just our pets and farm animals. There might be predators that attacked the farm animals. There were certainly multitudes of insects that consider our crops a lovely buffet. Defending your property was necessary, if you were to eat at all.

     The backlash that Technology has had is serious. Anything in our way is hunted down and killed. Not just those that dared go on our property but any of those of the same species. The Wolf was one example of extermination that was uncalled for. The issue is up for debate again because of the reintroduction of the Wolf to Yellowstone Park. 

     These issues must be looked at in context. A great example would be the Termite. They eat homes, businesses, and the products of our labor. So they are Evil spawns of Satan Right? Well if we look at them in the context of fitting into God’s plan we might be more charitable.

      The primary responsibility of a Termite is to eat and dispose of Dead Wood. If it were not for Termites, fungus, and other wood eating creatures we would have very littered Forests. No dead tree would ever decompose and give its elements and nourishment back to aid live trees growing around them. After a while there would be no forests just dead trees lying around.

     It is important that we respect the inherent Right of all creatures to live. We can and should defend and protect our property, family as well as our own safety. But keep it in perspective. The balance that must be reached should be a measured response. Let them have their places. And when you can not strike that balance like the Hornet Attack accept it as a self defense that was necessary at the moment.

God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions.

Angel Eliza