Jesus came into a village and saw there a stray kitten, and it suffered from hunger and cried out to Him. And He picked it up, wrapped it in His robe and let it rest at His breast.
And when He went through the village, He gave the cat to eat and to drink. And it ate and drank and showed Him its thanks. And He gave it to one of His disciples, a widow called Lorenza, and she took care of it.
And some of the people said, “This man takes care of all the animals. Are they His brothers and sisters, that He loves them so?” And He said to them, “Verily, these are your fellow brothers from the great family of God, your brothers and sisters who have the same breath of life from the Eternal.
And whoever cares for the least of them and gives it food and drink in its need does this to Me, and the one who deliberately allows that one of them suffer privation and does not defend it when it is ill-treated allows this evil to happen as if it were done
to Me. For just as you have done in this life will it be done to you in the life to come.”
K
And one day He was walking on a mountain path along the edge of the desert; He met a lion being pursued by many men who wanted to kill it with stones and javelins.
But Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Why do you hunt the creatures of God, which are more noble than you? Through the cruelties of many generations, they were made the enemies of men, whereas they should have been their friends.
Just as the might of God is visible in them, so is His patience and His compassion. Stop persecuting this creature! It does not want to harm you. Don’t you see how it flees from you and is terrified by your violence?”
And the lion came and lay at the feet of Jesus, and showed Him its love. And the people were very astonished and said, “See, this man loves all creatures and He has power even over the animals of the desert, and they obey Him.”
KAs Jesus went with some of His disciples, He met a man who trained dogs to hunt other animals. And He said to the man, “Why do you do this?” And the man answered, “Because I live from this. What sort of use have these animals? These animals are weak, but the dogs are strong.” And Jesus said to him, “You lack wisdom and love. Behold, every creature that God has created has its meaning and purpose. And who can say what good there is in it or what use it is to you or to mankind? And for your living, behold the fields, how they grow and are fertile, and the fruit-
bearing trees and the herbs. What more do you want than what the honest work of your hands will give you?
Woe to the strong who misuse their strength. Woe to the crafty who hurt the creatures of God! Woe to the hunters! For they themselves shall be hunted.”
KAnd it came to pass that the Lord departed from the city and went into the mountains with His disciples. And they came to a mountain with very steep paths. There they met a man with a beast of burden.
But the horse had collapsed, for it was overladen. The man struck it till the blood flowed. And Jesus went to him saying, “You son of cruelty, why do you strike your animal? Do you not see that it is much too weak for its burden and do you not know that it suffers?”
But the man retorted, “What have You to do therewith? I may strike my animal as much as it pleases me, for it belongs to me; and I bought it with a goodly sum of money. Ask those who are with You, for they are from my neighborhood and know thereof.”
And some of the disciples answered, saying, “Yes, Lord, it is as he said, we were there when he bought the horse.” And the Lord rejoined, “Do you not see then how it is bleeding, and do you not hear how it wails and laments?” But they answered saying, “No, Lord, we do not hear that it wails or laments.” I, Christ, explain, correct and deepen the word:
Even when someone has acquired an animal, nevertheless, it is not their property. Just as the spiritual body, the soul in the human being, is part of the eternal Being because the Eternal has created the spiritu-
al body, and the spirit being lives through the Eternal in the eternal Being—so was the animal created by the eternal Creator-Spirit and is part of the life which is and lasts eternally, God.
The whole of infinity is serving love, serving life. Human beings, too, are called by Me, Christ, to serve their neighbor in a selfless way. This also includes their second neighbor; For the animal is also endowed with the gifts of selfless serving and serves gladly and readily the person who loves it.
When people do not selflessly love their neighbor, that is, their fellow people, they will not serve them selflessly either. They then transmit their selfishness to the worlds of animals, plants and minerals as well.
An animal cannot speak. It suffers and endures silently and can hardly express its pain and grief. Only the one who selflessly loves people, animals, plants and stones perceives the pain and agony endured by the animal.
And the Lord became sad and said, “Woe to you; because of the dullness of your heart, you do not hear how it laments and cries to its heavenly Creator for pity; but thrice woe to the one against whom it cries and wails in its torment!”
And He went forward and touched the horse, and the animal stood up, and its wounds were healed. But He said to the man, “Go on your way now and henceforth strike it no more, if you, too, hope to find mercy.”
AKnd as Jesus was going to Jericho, He met a man with young doves and a cage full of birds which he had caught. And He saw their misery, as they had lost their freedom and, furthermore, were suffering hunger and thirst.
And He said to the man, “What are you doing with these?” And the man answered,
“I earn my living by selling the birds which I have caught.”
And Jesus said to him, “What would you think, if someone stronger or more clever than you would capture and shackle you, or would throw your wife or your children and you into prison, in order to sell you for his own profit and to earn his living from this? Are these not your fellow creatures, only weaker than you? And does not the same God, Father and Mother, care for them as for you? Let these, your little brothers and sisters, go forth into freedom and see to it that you never do such a thing again, but that you earn your bread honestly.”
And the man was astounded at these words and His authority, and he let the birds go free. As the birds came out, they flew to Jesus, sat upon His shoulders and sang to Him.
And the man asked more about His teachings and he went his way and learned basket weaving. He earned his bread from
this work and broke his cages and traps and became a disciple of Jesus. K
And it happened one day, after Jesus had finished His speaking, that, in a place near Tiberias where there are seven wells, a young man brought Him live rabbits and doves, that He might consume them with His disciples.
And Jesus looked at the young man lovingly and said to him, “You have a good heart and God will enlighten you; but do you not know that in the beginning God gave man the fruits of the Earth for food and by this did not make him lower than the apes, or the oxen, or the horse or the sheep, that he may kill his fellow creatures and consume their flesh and blood?
You believe that Moses rightfully commanded such creatures to be offered in sacrifice and consumed and so you do this in
the temple; but see, One greater than Moses is here and He comes to abolish the blood sacrifices of the law and the orgies and to restore the pure offering and the bloodless sacrifice as it was in the beginning, namely, the grains and the fruits of the Earth.”
JKesus went to Jerusalem and came upon a camel with a heavy burden of wood. The camel could not haul its load up the hill and the driver beat it and treated it cruelly, but could not get the animal to move.
And as Jesus saw it, He said to him, “Why do you beat your brother?” And the man retorted, “I did not know that it is my brother. Is it not a beast of burden, made to serve me?”
And Jesus said, “Has not the same God created this animal and your children who serve you from the same material and have
you not both received the same breath from God?”
And the man was very astonished by this talk. He stopped beating the camel and freed it from a part of its burden. And so, the camel went up the hill and Jesus went before it and it no longer stopped until the end of its day’s journey.
The camel recognized Jesus, for it had felt the love of God in Him. And the man wanted to know more of the teachings and Jesus taught him gladly and he became His follower.
Recognize that what you do to the animals, you do to Me, the Christ, and to yourselves as well. The torment and suffering of the animals will one day be your torment and suffering. God, the Eternal, has also given the animals into the hands of humankind—however, not that they torment them, but that they live with them.
The Earth is given to the people, so that they become conscious again that they are children of God, that their life— as all life—is from God, so that they learn to cherish and love life. In whatever form and in whatever state of consciousness life comes towards the person and manifests itself: in everything is God—the life.
Neither the apostles nor the disciples gave the order to slaughter a lamb. However, as a gift of love, parts of a prepared lamb were offered to Me as well as to the apostles and disciples. With this, our neighbor wanted to make a gift for us, for they did not know better. I blessed the gift and began to partake of the meat. My apostles and disciples did the same. Afterwards, they asked Me in the following sense: We should refrain from consuming meat. This is what You have commanded of us. Now You, Yourself, have consumed meat.
I instructed My own that humans should not willfully kill an animal nor should they consume the meat of animals which were killed for the consumption of their meat. Yet when people who are still unknowing have prepared meat as nourishment and make of it a gift to the guest, offering it with the meal, then the guest should not reject the gift. For there is a difference whether a person consumes meat because he craves
meat or as a token of gratitude to the host for his effort.
However, when it is possible for him and outer circumstances and time permit, the knowing person should give general indications to the host, but should not want to set him right. When the time is ripe, the host, too, will understand these general indications.
Verily, I say to you, I Am come into the world in order to put an end to all blood offerings and to the eating of the flesh of animals and birds that are slain by men.
I, Christ, explain, correct and deepen the word:
The life in God includes not only one’s neighbor, but also all other forms of life like animals, plants, minerals and stones; for all Being bears the life, God. The one who is in unity with life neither kills animals nor destroys plants willfully. He also respects the life—the forces of consciousness—of the minerals and stones. K
And whatever you do to the least of My children, you do to Me. For I Am in them, and they are in Me. Indeed, I Am in all creatures and all creatures are in Me. In all their joys, I, too, rejoice and in all their afflictions, I, too, suffer. This is why I say to you: Be kind to one another and to all the creatures of God.”
K
Therefore be considerate, kind, sympathetic and friendly not only to your own kind, but also to every creature which is within your care, for you are as gods to them, whom they look up to in their need. Beware of anger, for many sin in anger and repent of it when their anger is past.”
(Chap. 19:9) K
