#MicroblogMondays 134: Fish Love
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I read an interesting thought from Abraham Twerski (The Enemy Within). It was part of a larger commentary on self-love; not in the positive sense, but in the “putting yourself before others” sense:
The Rebbe of Kotzk noticed a young man thoroughly enjoying a dish of fish. “Why are you eating fish?” the Rebbe asked.
The young man responded, “Why? Because I love fish, that’s why.”
“So it was your love for the fish that caused you to take it from the water, kill it and cook it! If you really loved the fish, you would have let it live. Do not delude yourself, young man. What you really love is yourself, and because the fish satisfies your palate, you eat it.”
A fitting thought considering the political climate where so many of us are the fish, and we’re being told that work is being done to make our lives better when we feel like we’re being devoured, all for someone else’s enjoyment. It’s words not matching up with actions.
Chew on that.
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21 comments
I imagine this story being retold with the edited dialogue: “I love fish. I have tremendous respect for fish. Nobody loves fish more than me.”
Wow! That’s some thought to chew on. Really good one, Mel. In the political scenario – this couldn’t have been more apt.
This is so true!!
***mic drop***
Very timely and so true. (And Beth’s comment is spot on.)
So true. And Beth’s addition is perfect.
Considering he clearly meant, “I love eating fish.”, the second man was blatantly misinterpreting the first statement.
Also a relevant idea in today’s reactionary, volatile, and agenda-based environment.
This thought exercise applies broadly. Not only with the current political climate, but also from the ones before that set the stage for where we are at now. And even with others in daily life.
Grey and I have been having a lot of discussions surrounding this point. There’s noting wrong with eating fish, but most people are use to only seeing the end product, not the in between. They don’t understand the love and respect that goes in to honoring a sacrifice and the circle that normally is honored is being broken. Hence our current problem. All life needs recognition and honor, not just the ones at the top.
Well, some of us think there *is* something wrong with eating fish–you know, the pain they suffer when killed, the environmental degradation caused by commercial fishing (yes some people kill their own but see the first point). I don’t see any love respect or honor in the killing of an animal to eat it.
But yeah, hard to process the continuing horrors, such as poor elderly rural folks who actually believed their bigot hero would take care of them and now they’re going to lose their healthcare and go hungry.
This isn’t news to me – it’s a common thought among Vegans though (I am not one) .
I have many people in my circle who are vegan or vegetarian, and I have been advised many times that despite my love and care for my dogs, fish, chickens and lizard – I am not an animal lover because I eat meat. If I loved animals, I would love them enough to not eat them. On some levels they are right, I suppose… although I do not believe it is that black and white. I didn’t say it much before (it was more an observation on their part) but I now refrain from ever identifying as an animal lover, and instead stick with “I’m a dog lover”.
This idea does apply to many other things too, and it is interesting and thought provoking!
Happy Monday!
I can so relate to this – politics in India has been really nasty too, with venom and intolerance and narrow perspectives on the rise, all in the name of “nationalism”.
I love Beth’s comment so much!
I will never understand why people vote against their own self-interest. Makes no sense to me.
Beth’s comment is spot on!
I agree with Vaibhav; the Rebbe is a very poor listener.
Mel, your point seems to be that we are being killed for someone else’s pleasure. Am I hearing you correctly? Do you think our government is out to destroy some of us? If so, are they deluded or knowingly evil? A great deal of government and law involves control. Controlling the actions we can and cannot take and the consequences for not following those controls and directions. Controlling what the government will fund and what they won’t.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading too much into a MicroblogMondays post? 🙂
Yet some of the fish were persuaded it was a good idea? There’s a lot going on which is hard to understand at the moment.
Beth’s comment made me laugh.
I’m not sure what to think about the story overall, let alone the debate about vegetarian/veganism, but I loved Beth’s comment. 🙂
Mercy! Whew! You spoke truth.
Amazing. So much to chew on. And I’m going to join the Beth parade…that was AWESOME.
“super”
Everyday acts of kindness, hope and generosity are counter-cultural. So sad when hate and fear become means of political advancement. .