We all live in life’s embrace, Ma’s story is  timeless, the search for love and life amidst the challenges, anger, disappointments and struggles of the world around us. The Good Mother is reborn giving life. Her story has touched me deeply. I saw her in great suffering just a few days ago, I was committed to true mercy, and relieving her pain. She was so close to death. I believe true mercy often comes from accepting death, not in denying it and Ma’s story has brought this difficult kind of decision into clear focus. Everyone who loves an animal faces it at one time or another.

A week ago, Ma was simply one of Maria’s sheep to me, a source of the yarn she sells, something for Red to her. She is dancing in the embrace of life now, the light follows her and her lambs wherever she goes, the Indians say the white animals are sacred, I think it is so.

In our culture, mercy is often equated with prolonging life at all costs, that is not my ethic. Ma lives in life’s embrace with all of it’s complexity and confusion. We do the best we can for as long as we can, I do not live in a black-and-white world and neither does Ma. Animals call to us to be thoughtful about their lives, to be selfless in our devotion to them, to put their needs above of ours, and above all, to commit ourselves to keeping them in our lives, and in the world. If they vanish from our world, our souls will follow them.