Whatever spiritual background you have, there is a lot of sense in the statement that we are our brother's keeper. Not in a co-dependent way. I think some of us do too much and need to create and be aware of our own boundaries being crossed, and push back as needed.
We are on this planet together, all of us. Because of that, the oneous is on each of us to reach out to each other, to all living things and extend a bit of grace, a bit of love.
Two neighbors moved from my block, and each one ditched their Tabby cat. One is a full grown adult, another just a kitten. Of course, they ended up on my porch, eating with the strays I feed under the city sanctioned TNR (Trap Neuter Release) program.
Love means commitment to the things we have invited and co-created into our lives. Why do we make false commitments, commitments without fully soul searching in the first place? Yet, if we decide we cannot do this thing we said we would do, that we just cannot stick with it, why then not suck it up and end it as cleanly and humanely as possible? It is the most respectful way, honoring the things, animals and people involved in our decision. For the cats, perhaps they could have been turned over to a no-kill shelter like Animal Kindess instead of left wandering and wondering where to find food and if their owners will come back soon, foistering the problem onto a neighbor who has no clue where to locate a good home for them.
We throw out cars, people, pets. Good things go to waste in America. The mindset of this is not one that will ever bring us true peace. These cats are confused, loving, and a bit nervous because they do not know what happened and why they were left here. They keep going back home and the door does not open for them. They come to me for food and love, but I cannot let them in, I already have too many cats and that would be crossing my freshly minted boundaries. (I cannot become the bleeding heart to the point of in home cat chaos any longer.)
As we work on creating healthy personal boundaries, and what commitments we can truly accept, then follow through with them or end them clean, we build our self worth and help the world around us too. It is all about extending beyond ourselves to full acceptance and love for the goodness of others.
I will find a solid home for these little cats. For the two girls who dumped their pets, I am very angry and I tried to get enough information so I could report them for animal cruelty. I am still working on that. Not because I am bitter, but because of the lesson needing learning here. You do not dump your child or pet off someplace just because you no longer want it in your life; that is selfish behaviour. But apart from my anger, which I am working on mellowing, I feel deeply sorry for them as human beings. How can they ever hope to live their best life when they make the choice not to honor life to begin with?
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