hmm...

On my way home after the Tuesday night services this Holy Week I had to swerve to miss hitting a cat who lay hurt and dying in the middle of the road. I couldn't pull over for a moment, because the adrenaline was rushing through me. I missed him, but only just! Once I could safely turn around, I went back. There was now a line up of cars slowing to DRIVE PAST. No one was stopping to help the poor little dying animal. Who knows how long he had been laying there. You could clearly tell he was somebody's pet. He was really fluffy, black and white, and even in the dim light of the headlights, you could see that he was well taken care of - until now. I pulled over behind a bus, just in time to see it's driver emerge from the doors with a newspaper in her hands to go and see to the cat. It turned out that it was unfortunately already dead. She lovingly picked him up and moved his lifeless body over to the side of the road. She was visibly shaken and with tears in her eyes she started to tell me about how she loved animals. She had 8 cats at home, and wished she could have done something to save the life of this little guy. For every one person who drove past, felt sad and thought 'poor thing', I thank God that there are people in the world that bus driver, who don't just feel sorry for something and continue on with their plans, but when moved by compassion, acted in love to help. I thanked that bus driver for her compassion.

When did the world speed up so much that someone who lay dying on the road is seen as an inconvenience to swerve around, not as a living breathing being in need of help? Pets are someone not just something - just ask the owner who had to wake in the morning to find their friend dead on the front lawn - and then explain death to their children.