This is the first week and first lesson in compassion.
The lesson: Every creature deserves respect, no matter how small.
Have you ever smashed a bug just because it was a, well, bug? Lot's of people don't understand that that bug had a reason to be a bug, and that s/he felt pain. I just had a long lecture with my "friend" about how killing a bug because he was doing nothing was stupid and heartless. I asked her how she would have felt if a bug stepped on her for no reason. Her reply was shocking: "The bug wanted to die!" I told her other things and she came up with myths in reply, like Prairie Dogs "Carry" rabies. (FYI, that is not true. Just because they are rodents, they do not carry disease, but they CAN contact disease.)
Yesterday I saved a fly. Some people could care less about that fly. But this fly was caught in a net, and he was buzzing frantically to get out. Not even my fly-catcher dog Bella, would attack him. She felt pain for the fly too. What I did: I grabbed a string and put it next to him. He grabbed on and was pulled out. Then he flew away happily.
I can think of other times when I saved bugs and other people did not understand my intentions, like when I saved a beetle from drowning or when I saved a moth from also drowning. ( I'm a little mad that a lot of the kids I know think that killing is the answer. I will save that for another lesson.)
To sum it up, I think that EVERY creature feels pain and deserves respect.
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