Feeding People

THE DOG WAS SWEET LOOKING, as all dogs are. In his mouth was a food dish, empty. The caption on the Facebook post said that he had been abandoned by his family, which had moved away, and left him on the front door step, where he sat for days, waiting for their return, which would never happen. So, he picked up his food dish, and, hungry, waited for someone, anyone, to feed him. All across America's fruited plain, and all over the world, I hoped that people would see the post, and respond to it on a very deep level. I shared the post, often. Of course, on Facebook, you never know. But fake news or not, what does it matter? How many times does this scenario, in general terms, play out in this world of nightmares, and in this country of arrogance and neglect, neglect of people, animals, responsibilities? Beneath the post I wrote: " Let us assume that by now this beautiful sweet creature of God has not only been fed, but has been adopted by a new family, a good family, a family more suited to his needs, his simple but terribly important needs, a family more loving, more deserving of his sweet companionship than the former one, a family of brutal barbarians." Angry, I wrote and posted that. The vanished family are doubtless good people, or what pass for good people in the United States of Avarice. Hard working, and all that. But good people are not all good, and are subject to the malign social influences inevitably spawned wherever folks gather together in large numbers, and become self interested amidst a sea of conceit. Influences such as greed, self absorption, and a preference for personal convenience over moral social responsibility pervade and gain control. No one among us avoids malign influences. Accordingly, we objectify things that are more than mere objects. We turn, at least subconsciously, precious living beings, beautiful women, animals, into commodities, to be dealt with to our advantage, not theirs. It becomes easier, and in the warped thinking of those under the influence, justifiable, to grope, molest, abuse, to simply drive away forever and leave the dog, a family member, left behind to fend for itself. Thus we become cruel, barbaric killers. The right action becomes a choice, a mere alternative, an option, rather than a moral necessity. The sweet dog becomes homeless and hungry, desperately asking the world for nothing more than a chance to live and to be loved and cared for, in a world it had grown to trust but which has turned its back on her. There will come a time, and soon, I have faith, when some new and good family will become the forever home, the place of love, trust, and nurture. She will once again become a vital a part of a loving group of good humans, never again to be neglected, abandoned, and tossed aside like yesterday's garbage. For that, we must maintain the faith, that good prevails, and that, at last, we are good people.