Doing the right thing

One of our primary challenges in life is to be consistently involved in "doing the right thing," and to never find ourselves indifferent to the many moral and ethical challenges that confront us everyday. Perhaps when we are confronted with such a profound example of what it is to so blantely " do the wrong thing," that each of us have the opportunity to " hit the reset button" of how we value life.

I am painfully aware that the cost of "the hunt" could have made a tremendous difference in lives of countless men, women and children. 

The recent torture, killing, skinning and beheading of the Beloved Lion, Cecil in Zimbabwe is a clear example of what it is to make a wrong choice on so many levels. In terms of our doing all in our power to protect and respect our living environment, this death is highly symbolic of our collective lack of responsibility to embrace the wellbeing of our living planet in all ways. The big game hunter identified as responsible for the death of the lion simply offers his regrets for the killing and reports that he was lead to believe that he was being guided in the "right" and legal direction. This is reminicent of "I was simply following orders" as the ultimate excuse. The world is not entrusted to us to be the ultimate rulers or deciders as to what lives and what dies.  As human beings, we are simply one part of the total fabric of life, and yet called to a level of responsibility to do all in our power to ensure life and the beauty of our creation. The second concern that would hopefully come to our minds is how we choose to use our resources in a world that continues to know hunger and poverty.  It is my understanding that the torture and killing of this lion came to a cost of $54,000.  As President of Arm In Arm In Africa, I am painfully aware that the cost of "the hunt" could have made a tremendous difference in lives of countless men, women and children. In the area of emergency food distribution alone, Arm In Arm In Africa is able to empower approximately 200 individuals and families with emergency food distribution, quarterly per year throughout the Townships and rural areas of South Africa. Whether our choices culminate in a $54,000 wall hanging/trophy to one's ego, or we are simply reluctant to "do the math" of the difference our daily $5.00 fancy coffee would make in a world that continues to know hunger. Again, an opportunity to reset our own choices as to how we share our resources with the world community. Outrage and a need to blame is certainly understandable in the death of this beloved icon of God's creation. The StarTribune headline likened it to a 'global outcry." As  President of Arm In Arm In Africa, I do most assuredly lament this most recent example of not only an individual, but a world, so accustomed to missing the moral point of respecting creation and life. It is my hope that we will never have a scarcity of outrage when confronted with a lack of respect for life, either coming from ourselves, or another person. James Cassidy President of Arm In Arm In Africa