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June 4, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 21, 2004 The outskirts of Eden Three lionesses get together to provide dinner. They pick out the easiest prey amongst their neighbors and work together to provide sustenance for their pride. Blood is spilled. The wildebeest who has just lost it's life has ensured the lions and their kind another day of survival. From the point of view of the lions they had no choice. Do the wildebeest hate the lions? Do they realize that to the lions they're just grass? Are the lions evil? Whenever I've seen it on film I've felt sorry for the wildebeest. I except the wildebeest's death as nature's way and that the lions are doing what they must. It would be easier to except if there where no suffering in the process. I've seen Osprey swoop to the river surface and pull a fish from it's current and I feel some remorse for the trout but I'm glad for the bird. Mother Nature set it up so that all life becomes food for itself. The fish feeds the bird that feeds the soil that feeds the worm that feeds the grass that feeds the wildebeest that feeds the lion that feeds the soil, etc... Adam and Eve broke the mold. Their brain made them curious. The same brain God gave them, then punished them for using. After being banished from The Garden they figured out they didn't have to "bite the flanks" of a wildebeest to provide dinner. They had choices. They chose to own the Earth. When the lion kills she does it for one reason only: She's grocery shopping. She doesn't kill out of fear, or to gain power and territory, or wealth. She doesn't kill because the wildebeest is evil or threatens her way of life. She's not after enlightenment, paradise or nirvana. She wants to feed her kids. In the beginning that's all Adam and Eve needed to do. Somewhere along the way their offspring decided that wasn't enough. It would be much easier for us if Grandpa Adam and Grandma Eve had listened to God. In their Eden they needn't concern themselves with food gathering, building shelter, or the latest clothing styles. Sounds rather boring to me, I like a good flood now and then. Except for a few "lions" seeking enlightenment, (know it alls), paradise (no chores), nirvana (head in the sand), power, territory and wealth (commanders -in-chiefs), this is Eden. Humans have always been able to make a choice. That's what makes us human. We can rise above the lion and choose to take that food humanly. We live on the outskirts of Eden. With our will and a few simple choices we could rejoin the animals and share The Garden with them once again. Tom Freeman Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams