Apology to the Elephants

The BBC reported today that Kenya's Wildlife Service says it is pursuing a gang of poachers they suspect of killing an entire family of 11 elephants.  Apparently the elephant family was gunned down on Saturday in the single worst incident of ivory poaching recorded in that county.  Saturday's killing took place in Tsavo National Park, Kenya's largest single continuous ecosystem, home to 13,000 elephants.  Though ivory trade was banned in 1989 there has been a rise in the illegal practice in recent years. Poachers kill approximately 100 elephants each year in Kenya.  Around the world, thousands of elephants die each year so their tusks can be carved into religious objects.

I found myself reading the headline, "Kenya Elephant Family Slaughtered," and  I could feel my gut tense and my heart sink.   I wasn't about to let that feeling of utter disgust melting into deep despair take hold.  Thus the quick click of the key moved me to the next article about lasers being used to shoot down drones.  Now that was a civil topic.

All day,  I felt the flight of denial, and the image of the bullet-shattered elephant family crept back into my awareness.  I screwed up my courage, found and read the story.   It was shocking and heartbreaking.

All I can do at this point is to apologize to the elephants on behalf of the human species.  I am so sorry for our violence born from ignorance, disrespect, and disconnection.

We might ask ourselves, " how we will ever graduate to new earth consciousness?"  It seems so far from our reach.   One answer lies in how well we rally our spiritual muscle to accept the reality of the cruel and inhumane treatment that occurs towards elephant families, little children, innocent bystanders, or the enemy across battle lines.

It takes a high degree of spiritual consciousness to work with the topic of cruelty.  We need to be able to witness the cruelty and bring the full force of our feelings to bear.  We must melt the icebergs of our denial and come to grips with the cruel actions being perpetrated daily.  We must call upon our spiritual mastery  and pray for the victim as well as the perpetrator.  Our prayer and forgiveness will manifest higher-consciousness and new earth behavior over time. Cruelty cannot exist in new earth frequency.  This is a fact. For now, we must have faith that this is true.

When you hear a horrific story, I suggest you don't hit the skip button, but rather stay  fully with the story, your emotions and your reaction.  Then find your courage to pray and hold the circumstance in love.

Work with matrix #7.


P.S. Ditto prayers for the Rhinos