A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING CAME TO ME the other morning quite by surprise near M-22.
I was driving my car heading to the golf course and just happened to come upon a vehicle that had stopped in the middle of the road. A gal was exiting her car with her hands raised requesting me to stop my vehicle. It appeared as if she was a bit panicked, and I went through several scenarios analyzing what might be at issue.
She proceeded to open her back car door, retrieved a cardboard lid, and quickly moved around to the front of her car. My first thought was, might she be attending to an injured snapping turtle? It soon became apparent she was shooing three small raccoons that were huddled together over to the side of the road. They looked as if they were maybe a couple of weeks old. There was no sign of the mother raccoon. With the gal’s gentle prodding, I saw the trio disappear down the embankment into the high grasses and flowers that made up the landscape.
This act of kindness by a passerby delighted me and made me feel happy. It placed me in this deeper contemplation about our caring and the amazing kinship we share with many creatures. This centered around the realization that man’s bond with other animals is strengthened by the knowledge of our similar genetic makeup - this came with the breakthrough discovery of genome mapping early in the century. This sequencing was a game-changer that turned the world upside down. I mean a fruit fly shares 60% of my gene pool. My goodness, that is incredible. Or is it the other way around? I guess it depends on whose point of view you want to factor into the equation.
It is a very good thing to have discovered this truth - we are all in this together, and related, was my morning mentalization. The Universe is pretty amazing.