Nature documentaries anyone? It's alright you can say it. This is a safe space. You are in the company of a fellow Planet Earth nerd. I'm a fan. Ok, a huge fan! The other night, I saw Disney's: Oceans for the first time. It was supposed to be one of those watch until you fall asleep movies. Nope, I watched the whole thing, in it's (almost) entirety. This could be due to my Little Mermaid obsession, but I find the Ocean to be amazing. It's like outer space, on earth, what even!?!? I want to live there. No judgment please, I already have a hard enough time making friends.
However fascinating these documentaries are, there is a pattern they all take. A horrible pattern. First, you are bombarded with helicopter shots of the ocean, waves crashing, perhaps a dolphin jumping. And then you get into the ocean and you learn about all these different species of ocean dwelling creatures. There's a segment with the sea lions playing, dolphin families racing, migrating humpback whales. It just makes you think, "oh what fun! The ocean is just such a wonderful place!". And just as you are thinking this, watching the baby sea lions play in the shallow waters... an Orca whale comes and chomps down on one and drags it into the depths....
Jerks. I know that Orcas are smart and fun, and Free Willy, and Shamu. But once you get down to the nitty gritty, realizing that some cute animals eat other cute animals, stuff gets real in the bountiful blue, and you're like "oh, the ocean... crazy." As you may or may not be welling up a bit. Again, no judgment.
Documentaries ALWAYS DO THIS! They pull you in with adorable animals with personalty, and then Pierce Brosnan's voice becomes foreboding and he says something like, "But things in the ocean cannot always be this way." And then it's Penguins for lunch! Hopefully you start to realize that this is the circle of life, and that Sea Lions still have fun, even with the always impending danger of Orca Whales and Great White Sharks.
And then, sadder still, is when the humans show up...
Jerks. The fishing segment. Let me tell you, it is easy to forgive Killer Whales for being hungry for seals, it's a lot harder to do that with humans when you watch a Whale Shark getting caught up in a net, and a Sea Turtle trying to gnaw his way out. And DON'T you dare start with me, I KNOW. People need to eat too! I get it. I have made my peace with it.
There is just something about a suffering animal that tears my heart in pieces. I know it's a casualty that we must face if we want to be able to have fish for dinner. I understand, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch. I was sobbing, I couldn't stop crying during this 2 minute segment. I had to completely skip the part on pollution and the polar ice caps. For anyone who knows me; you get it. For those who don't know me and who haven't read some of my other posts; creation care is big on my heart.
But anyway, back to the whale shark, which by the way is the biggest fish in the world. As I was watching these images of animals caught up in fishing nets, I was convicted. I wanted to save these animals, I wanted to call PETA and say "sign me up for that Whale Shark march!" But soon after, this feeling of even greater sadness came over me, when I realized that this movie was taking away the spotlight from a species in even greater need. I said "What about this whale shark? Who will save it?"
And God said, "It's the girl in the brothel, who doesn't realize her love for the ocean because she's never known what it's like to be loved herself."
"It's the boy in Africa who knows how to create a safe and sustainable way to get food from the ocean, but won't because he can only focus on how to get food for himself."
"It's the kid in the city who has a knack for science, but doesn't have the resources he needs to nurture that talent."
It's the people who can help the earth, the (if I may quote Lewis) " Sons of Adam" and "Daughters of Eve"
It's John, who I met in Africa at an orphanage, he asked if he could borrow my camera and started taking shots of everything, he took this photo of myself...
Maybe he's going to be a photojournalist someday, taking pictures that will drive people to bring about real change in this world. That is if he can get the education and resources he needs.So, yes, we can help the animals, by helping the people first.
It always gets me, yes even me, when I see that there are people out there who would rather help the stray animals affected by the earthquakes in Japan, when there are PEOPLE who have been displaced and lost loved ones. I was in Seattle not to long ago, and at a shop I was given a token because I did not need a bag for my items. With this token I was able to put it into one of two boxes, it would represent a 5¢ donation that the shop would make to one of the charities. One of the boxes was for AIDs relief, and the other, for a humane animal shelter. Guess which one had the most tokens in it? My friend and I thought "only in Seattle." But really, it's everywhere. Look I know that people can be stupid sometimes, I'm guilty of being so, I know. But we cannot shield people from our compassion and reflect it onto a lesser being. I said it. I love animals, but I also know that they don't matter as much as people.
We want to make the world better, but we think that it's by saving the starving polar bears and being nice to homeless dogs. What about the starving families? Or the homeless man? People first, animals second. If animals are your thing, that's cool. But the only way to create a place where animals can be treated well is by first creating a place where people are treated fairly.
From one animal lover to another, come on, they're just animals.
