Seven baskets over...

As a hopeless softie where animals are concerned, and the property of no less than 2 dogs, 3 cats and a couple of ponies, I sometimes feel rather uncomfortable about the care lavished upon our domestic pets, when there are so many people, near and far, who are living lives of terrible deprivation. My discomfort is never quite sufficient to force me to banish the pets from our lives,- and realism confirms that even if I did, I would be unlikely to do something helpful and generous with the money no longer needed for food and vet bills. I would just become unreasonably grumpy:I did manage for almost 3 years of university with nary a pet to my name, - but the moment I became a post- grad student I acquired a cat, and have never looked back, to my huge relief.
So, I enjoyed reading Songbird's post today about the work of the wonderful people who are running animal shelters in the Katrina disaster area...and I thought about the way human kindness and love need not be finite , any more than is God's grace.
When the five thousand were fed, there were still baskets left over, which presumably were shared with the local fauna...because, you know, there is enough to go round. We simply need to open our hands as well as our hearts.