Way back in the 1970s, I was eating a steak, and I looked down, and for the first time it suddenly looked like flesh to me - like a dead creature. In a flash, I realized that every time I ate any kind of meat, something had been killed for me, and I stopped eating all animals, not just cows and pigs but chickens and fish.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a profound realization about the moral implications of eating meat.
Joanna Lumley's quote expresses a pivotal moment of consciousness where she recognizes the life and death associated with consuming meat. This realization led her to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, illustrating a transformation in her perspective on animals and the ethics of eating. It underscores the concept that our food choices are intertwined with the lives of other beings, prompting a deeper awareness of the consequences of our consumption habits.
In practice
During a speech on animal rights, I mentioned Lumley's transformative experience as a reason to reconsider meat consumption.
My mother early on taught us to respect all animals, and I mean all animals - not just cats and dogs but rats and snakes and spiders and fish and wildlife, so I really grew up believing they are just like us and just as deserving of consideration.
I've never been interested enough to have a career trajectory. I've never had any ambition or thought of what I should be doing or had any idea of what I'd like to do. Never. And still don't. And if something comes along, I say 'Fine.'
Sick or well, blind or seeing, bond or free, we are here for a purpose and however we are situated, we please God better with useful deeds than with many prayers or pious resignation. The temple or church is empty unless the good of life fills it . . . holy if only . . . we offer the only sacrifices ever commanded-the love that is stronger than hate and the faith that overcometh doubt.
We have the choice of two identities: the external mask which seems to be real...and the hidden, inner person who seems to us to be nothing, but who can give himself eternally to the truth in whom he subsists. (295)
Events are influenced by our very great desires.
I am sorry my life is so marred and maimed by extravagance. But I cannot live otherwise. I, at any rate, pay the penalty of suffering.
I'm sure that everybody feels a kind of permanent anguish about what's going on in the world.
All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the public character; or at worst, catchwords.
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