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An exceptionally poignant lament on the oil spill, both its net effect and its tragic impact on the Gulf pelicans in particular, from Hannah Stephenson and The Storialist, "Deepwater":
Like resurrected pterodactyls rising from tar,
the birds emerge, dragging sludge-sodden wings.
Behind them, a new set of tracks: triangular valleys
flanked by grooves, like the marks left by skis.
A beautifully sung and stirring rendition of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (a hymn based on the verse behind not one sparrow's name, Luke 12:6, or its close parallel in Matthew 10:29), from Tanya Blount and Lauryn Hill:
My heart breaks every time the thought of Haiti even crosses my mind, let alone another individually tragic report crosses the newswire. So many vital humanitarian responses are in urgent need of support, and I did want to mention an important one being conducted by missionary friends from my college days at Moody Bible, Jarod Ebenhack and Matt McCormick.
But in the vein of not one sparrow, we also need to shed some light on the plight of Haitian animals in the aftermath of the earthquake. Please know that that a collaborative response is being coordinated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Society of the Protection of Animals, called the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti. Humane Society International and Best Friends are also participating in the collaboration. The following is from an IFAW update sent today:
Thanks to Susan Millard-Schwarz (via HuffPost) for passing along this very cute and poignant video about a young squirrel who gets some much-needed and patient help from an older member of the family, as well as a couple of very sympathetic men:
The following is from my friend (and talented classical singer, I might add) Susan Millard-Schwarz. After emailing back and forth, I asked if she'd be open to sharing some of her background with vegetarianism and caring about animal suffering on the blog, and I'm very grateful to her for following up on the invitation ...
My husband, Jack, and I are vegetarian, meaning we don’t eat meat, fish or poultry. Jack and his first wife raised their girls vegetarian, and now one of them is married to a young man who became vegetarian after knowing her. So, it truly is the culture at my house. But I am perpetually in meat-eating “recovery,” and probably will always miss the taste of meat to some degree. Jack, on the other hand, does not.
After a rather heady week of dialogue (see previous posts), I thought I might end on a lighter note with a heartfelt story about a crow adopting a stray kitten. Apparently this "Miracle Pets" video from a few years back has made the rounds on tv and the interweb, but I hadn't come across it as yet (thanks to Susan Schwarz for forwarding it to me):
June 17, 2010