Valentine's Day is a day when we celebrate love, according to our own view of what it is. Animals don't send Valentine’s cards, because they can't. But there's no doubt they're featured on them many times, and also that they are capable of giving love and inspiring love in the hearts and minds of their owners. Unconditional love, those adoring owners explain. In other words even if he might be a bit of a beast, his dog, cat, bird or whatever pet it might be, has this love for him that will not be diminished by anything he does or does not do.
Now, I have to say, I don't believe all animals are capable of loving. Those exceptions in my mind are the cold-blooded kind, the reptiles and frogs. I have no idea why anyone would want to keep them at all. Thanks to Sir Richard Attenborough I also know they're really revolting with their eating habits and lack of table manners. That’s crossing the line.
Actually, even fish as pets are stretching the idea of love. That’s got to be strictly a one-sided relationship. And as soon as it's one-sided, that mysterious thing we call love has gone. It's more like pride in ownership, or lust instead of love.
Arms-length love
What made me write about love this week? It seems to me there's a great lack of it in the world right now. You don't hear much good news, and definitely not a great deal about love. But I won't pursue that angle right now. It'll slingshot me right into the bad news...the stuff of pain and sadness, and I don't want to be there.
Instead, I want to tell - and show you - a beautiful story of love I saw when I was recently in Oahu, Hawaii. My heart was captured by hundreds of loving, tiny parrots. No wonder they call them love birds. They move in adoring pairs. There's no quarreling. They just love! When I saw them I was enchanted for a considerable time, taking shots and observing them.
See how active those little birds are? Maybe that's what keeps love alive and happy. You'd think with all the technology at our fingertips or even with old fashioned visiting and caring, you could keep love constantly alive in yourself plus some others. And we know it is important, ‘cause even Google says so!
Thank you.