Don't Forget Your Porpoise

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I should not enjoy puns so much. And I shouldn't use puns when I'm doing serious reflection. And I especially shouldn't use puns if it doesn't apply to a situation...yet here we are. Apologies.

This post is not about dolphins at all. It's about seals, or rather, a scene from a nature documentary with a little vignette into a particular momma seal's life. As you'd expect from nature, her life is hard. She is desperately fighting off the advances of a bull seal, because she isn't ready to breed again, as she is still raising her newest pup seal. And suddenly her situation is poetically oxymoronic--she is so busy turning away a would-be suitor that she doesn't notice her baby slowly drown in the tide. 

In case you didn't notice the paradox, I'll recap: she's not ready to have another baby, because she still has one on her hands [or flippers...], but in her vehement denial of a [pushy, testosterone-crazed] potential-boyfriend, her very reason for that denial is pulled to its death by the current.

As I replayed this scene over and over in my head, it started to dawn on me that I could very-well fall in the same trap. What if, in my concern for public health, I end up alienating the very public I am trying to keep in health, thus making my efforts a moot point? What if I am so caught up in defending personal/political/religious beliefs that I lose sight of who I was trying to become? 

Or, as Christ pointed out in his criticism of the Pharisees, what if I sacrifice the spirit of the law in favor of the letter of the law?

These are not new questions. I am not pointing out any new truth. It is just a poignant reminder to be a little more self-aware, without compromising your purpose.

A Sarah-Mclachlan guilt trip right there

 

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