By Sri Harold Klemp
A farmer in Scotland had a large herd of cows. He and his wife treated these cows like their children. Every morning they’d come out to feed and milk them. They would call each cow by name and give them little treats. They’d pet them. The cows loved the farmer and his wife, and the couple loved the cows.
One day the farmer got on his tractor and drove out into the field to check on a newborn calf. This was risky because a neighbor’s bull had been brought over for breeding purposes and was loose in the field.
When the bull saw the farmer, he charged the tractor and knocked the farmer off and began to gore him. The farmer went unconscious.
When he woke up some time later, he found that his herd of cows had made a tight circle of protection around him. The bull was furious, and he charged the cows again and again, trying to break through that circle. Some of the cows were badly hurt, and a few died from internal bleeding.
But the circle of cows stayed until someone arrived to help the farmer.
As the man told the story later, he began to cry. “People who say that cows are stupid don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said.
This man knew that God’s love is larger than just a love for humans. It stretches from one human to another, of course, but it also stretches from humans to animals, to birds, to fish, and even to a herd of cows.
In case you haven’t discovered it, the whole purpose in living—the whole purpose of God’s plan—is so each of us learns how to love.
And where does love begin?
It begins with those who are near and dear to us. If we can’t love them, how are we ever going to love God? And before we can love those who are near and dear to us, both people and animals, we’ve got to learn to love ourselves.