Like the Beasts who Perish

"Next please? Ok, I see you are underfed and old and your owners can't provide for you anymore. Would you prefer death by slow starvation or perhaps lingering agony while being shipped a thousand miles to the slaughter house in Mexico?"
The horses glanced at each other. Truth be told, they would rather be given a hefty serving of grain and be done with it.
"Is there a third choice?" asked one timidly.
"If we have to be slaughtered, why not just in the good ol' USA?" asked one with a little sprightliness left in him.
"We don't do awful things like that in the USA!" huffed the inspector, "We let the Mexicans handle that dirty work."

I snapped the newspaper closed. But not til reading the dilemma that is dividing animal rights organizations. It was outrage from those groups that closed the horse slaughter houses in the USA in the first place. Then the unexpected consequence:  thousands of horses were shipped in a grueling trip to the Mexican slaughterhouses, suffering mightily along the way and ending in a pathetic death. Some animal rights groups are now asking for limited slaugterhouses to be reestablished in America, home of the free, so the horses have the lesser of two evils.

I don't like reading the newspaper. It is chock full of cheery stories like this. And I sure don't have the answer! We can support the few horse sanctuaries that take in abandoned horses. It doesn't solve the problem by a long stretch but it is at least something....The wild mustangs in the West are being rounded up by the thousands as well.... and living in containment pens, euthanized "as needed."  Sometimes I just stop reading but then I lie awake at night, with a sense of dread and sadness. The most sensible solution to me seems to me to be stop the breeding of all animals....there are plenty of strays to make sure all of us have as many pets as we want....I know this is not a popular view or might label me a fanatic. I have been called worse. I just don't see how killing off the extras is a better choice.

I am Jewish by birth, though a Jew that believes the Messiah came and His name is  Yeshua (Jesus). My mom is Jewish, which makes me a Jew despite the fact that we never practiced or really learned much about our heritage. Thus, according to the Jewish law, I am a Jew, though a non-observant one. Had I been around during the Germany of Hitler, I would have been tossed in the oven whether I lived by Jewish mores or not.

 I was reading last night about why Jews observe Kosher food regulations. The basis of eating Kosher is one of kindness to animals. It all begins with the Bible prohibition to not eat the "kid boiled in his mother's milk". I had never thought much about that verse, but it is really more significant than I had ever realized. How incredibly callous and abhorrent it would be to not only eat the baby goat, but to add the ignominy of eating it seasoned with the milk of its bleating, grieving mother. If you were the mama goat... how would you feel about it? So the Jewish practice of separate dishes for dairy and meat may be further than I would naturally go, but the symbolic rationale is one of gentleness and respect for our animal friends. Kosher meat has been slaughtered only humanely, and a Rabbi inspects the meat to be sure that humane methods were followed. In ancient times, that meant sharp knives that would cause the least amount of suffering. This all makes me proud to be a Jew, as if being the people who birthed Jesus were not enough for me.

It is hard enough to make choices even when the outcomes are equally good.  How much more difficult to make choices where the outcomes are both horrendous.  Living with our eyes open is just not for the weak-hearted.

When David was given a choice by God to choose the punishment for his peoples' and his own sin, he faced that kind of a dilemma. He could choose three years of famine, three months of fleeing from enemies, or three days of plague. David considered carefully. He waited to see if there was another option behind door #4, but God tapped His foot with His arms crossed and intoned, "I am waiting...."
Finally, David cried, "I am in deep distress! Let us fall into the hands of the Lord for his mercy is great, but do not let me fall into the hands of men." (2 Samuel:14)

While the plague raged, David begged God to stay His hand, and punish David alone who bore the responsibility for the sin. God tells him to go offer a sacrifice, and one of David's subjects offers him the sacrificial animals free of charge.  And then David says one of the most profound statements in how we should live:
"No, I insist on paying for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
( 2Samuel 24:21)

I guess that is the best we can do. Cry out to God for His mercy and try to change what we are able to change. But it is going to cost us. True repentance always does.

Psalm 49:7-8, 12, 20
⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
   or give to God a ransom for them—
⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
   no payment is ever enough—
¹² People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
   they are like the beasts that perish.
²⁰ People who have wealth but lack understanding
   are like the beasts that perish.