Love is all you need - Walking with sheep

A peaceful afternoon between sunshine and spectacular cloud formations drifting over the sparse forest. With Henry, Orpheus-Pumpkin, Jason and their friend, we hike over the gentle slope towards the swamp, through which a carefully laid stone path leads. The sheep provide a harmonious rhythm with their calm gait, interrupted here and there by small pauses at particularly lush grasses, reminding us to feel the surroundings as a whole and not just focus on the immediate path. A peaceful, tranquil atmosphere, pervaded by the white wings of the cockatoos, many of which live here, along with a variety of other birds that have invented the enchanting realm of music with their diverse melodies. Every now and then, you may manage to make brief eye contact with these fast birds. A scene that can be called paradisiacal, precisely because it dispenses with any human presence.

-In keeping with the time of year, I would like to recommend the beautiful piece "Sheep can safely graze", says Zebra, humming the intriguing Bach melody. -Season's Greetings, so to speak.

-However, the music is better than the lyrics, comments Okapi. -I quote: "Sheep can graze safely where a good shepherd watches". Once again, the point is that nothing works without human people.

-I can't disagree with you. What's more, the whole thing appears in a hunting cantata. Shows the inner conflict of Christian values - the sheep are protected, but at the same time people are happy about hunting other animals, adds Zebra.

-We'll have to think about that separately, Okapi decides. -I recommend "Letters to my sheep" by Teja Brooks Pribac. It's also a wonderful read as a gift for yourself and others.

The personalities of the sheep are clearly different. Their reactions to my presence range from curiosity to elegant ignorance. Eye contact, sometimes more intense, sometimes fleeting, confirms how each of the three has its very own character. Not surprising when you know how they live - how they communicate, what they love. There are sheep-specific characteristics, but individuality is crucial. In her "Letters to my sheep", Teja Brooks Pribac writes: "I often wonder how much you know. Humans tend to think of ourselves as the “knowing animal”, partly based on our presumably amazing communicative skills, but there are more things in heaven and earth that are dreamt of by the human. A wealth of senses and agencies to speak to them.” The text is a fast-paced meditative journey through life with her sheep. It covers various topics, from feelings to perception and consciousness to spirituality.

Animals - all animals, including humans - communicate largely through their body language. Their movements are expressive. Non-human animals often move with the elegance and suppleness of dancers. Their expression is not weakened by abstraction. Abstraction means distance - and perhaps that is precisely the task we are increasingly facing at the moment: To create closeness. To try to transcend the narrowness of human interests. To allow the whole spectrum of perception. To accept feelings, to allow sounds and looks to reach a level of depth that touches. A challenge to face the diversity of life. A good time to start is right now.

"Letters to my Sheep" von Teja?Brooks Pribac

https://www.veganoman.org/letters-to-my-sheep.html?fbclid=IwAR2NZGF5vMpvh9GExlBvEiP0i9t6kl9zKtaMQSx_HHTx7s9rV9NBzyJIHpA

“Sheep may safely graze” BWV 208