Weekly Newsletter - February 15, 2017
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Six Principles of Nonviolence, part 4, continued
  2. The February Peaceable Table Is Now online
  3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

1. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Six Principles of Nonviolence, part 4, continued

Last week, I noted that King believed that there was a redemptive quality to suffering. Why should those working for peace and justice need redemption?

The answer, I think, relates to our being sinners. Even with good intentions, we fall short of the “glory of God.” Our needs and desires routinely conflict with what we know is the just, compassionate, and loving thing to do. Even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as admirable as he was, was a flawed man.

Another reason we need redemption is that we live in a “fallen world.” Nature, with all its glory and beauty, also features extensive violence and destruction. Living in the world, we cannot avoid being part of its destructiveness. Nobody leaves the planet without leaving a footprint. To be sure, our choices significantly impact the size and destructiveness of that footprint.

As we strive to participate in the establishment of the “Peaceable Kingdom” (Isaiah 11:6-9), we should be grateful for the gifts we have and be humble about our worthiness. Our own suffering reminds us of the suffering around us, including the suffering for which we are directly or indirectly responsible. In addition, while our faith teaches that we are special in God’s eyes, the universal nature of suffering teaches us that we are not more special in God’s eyes than God’s other creatures.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.

2. The February Peaceable Table Is Now online

In the Editor's Corner Guest Essay, Richard Schwartz (president emeritus of Jewish Veg) proposes that the best way to promote the cause of veganism may be to pursue the environmental argument. Despite its urgency, the climate change issue is neglected; we are "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic...."

Already in 1801, Arthur Broome reminded his hearers and readers that the creatures we tend to despise, such as snails, beetles and toads, have feelings as we do, and come from the same Divine hand. See this Unset Gem.

In one of the NewsNotes, Anita Krajnk, political scientist and head of the organization Pigsave, was caught red-handed giving water to thirsty pigs in a truck bound for a slaughterhell. She has been charged with Criminal Mischief. How vile can some criminals get?

This month's Pioneer is Arthur Broome, the compassionate founder of the (Royal) Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This deeply-committed man devoted his efforts and means to the cause of animals and made history, but is largely forgotten today.

Are you a member of the "staff" of a lordly cat? If so, you will want to read "The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took over the World" by Abigail Tucker, Reviewed in this issue. Get the skinny on your furry friends.

You will enjoy your veggies when they include the Garlic-Rubbed Roasted Rounds described in the February Recipe. Feature this in your feast!

Dealing with the suffering of animals is painful, and at times we need humor or other kinds of fun to restore us. One way to refresh oneself is to read "Flunn" in the Poetry for Children column, and look up the other poems by Dr. Seuss in his classic children's book On Beyond Zebra.

Go here to read this issue.

Toward the Peaceable Kingdom,
Gracia Fay Ellwood

3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

Jealousy, Strife, Lacking Love

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