By: Deb Kitchenmaster
This can be a touchy question, can’t it? There are times when family and community members need to come together and talk about things that can be uncomfortable to talk about with each other — to listen, to hear, and to understand with our hearts. I ask that the Great Comforter, the promise of our Heavenly Father, (the EXACT SAME Spirit that raised Christ from the dead) come upon you as you continue to read.
Do you realize the power you have INSIDE? It’s the power of CHOICE. Made in the image and likeness of God Himself, He knitted you and me with a FREE WILL. He gave it. It was His idea, and He won’t remove it or take it away, regardless of what we individually choose.
Written and settled forever and never to change (whether we believe them or not) are these WORDS: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live.”
We choose whether to buy or sell a horse. We choose to groom, pet or ride a horse. We used to choose to slaughter horses here in the United States. Horse slaughter in the United States ceased with the closure of the last slaughterhouse in 2007. The reason we engaged in the practice of horse slaughtering was to produce meat for consumption. Humans have long consumed horse meat; the oldest known cave art, the 30,000-year-old painting in France’s Chauvet cave, depict horses with other wild animals hunted by humans.
It’s not illegal to eat horse meat in the United States, however, it is illegal to sell a horse for consumption in the United States. The USDA documented that 92.3 percent of horses sent to slaughter are in good condition and can live out a productive life.
The movie HIDALGO is based on the true story of Frank T. Hopkins who entered his South Dakota Mustang (Hidalgo) in the greatest long–distance race ever. This was a 3,000-mile race in the Arabian Desert referred to as The Ocean Of Fire. At one point, the valley of the shadow of death looked like the destination of this mustang. The word mustang comes from the Spanish mestengo, “wild, stray, or having no master (untamed). When Frank and Hidalgo returned to the United States, choices had been made by the federal government to round up wild horses, holding them in a large corral to be shot by soldiers in the military. Frank pays the price and life is chosen over death for these captured horses.
Former President Ronald Reagan, known as the Father of the Pro-Life Movement, said the people who are for abortions have been born. Think about it! A congressional report dated February 3, 2021, stated that more than 62 million babies have been killed by abortion in the United States since Roe v Wade. A friend recently celebrated a birthday. I wasn’t sure of what to bless her with in her celebration of life, so I asked. Her text suggested I contribute to this ministry that helped men and women with their emotional pain that comes from having an abortion. Let’s look at these choices together. As an individual you choose to express your voice through your vote. You choose to vote for someone who is choosing to pass laws supporting murder. The voted-in community commissioners and voted-in-by-we-the-people governmental seats choose to have our votes counted by corrupt, unsafe machines rather than to choose to replace all machines with quality valid paper ballots counted by human beings within a reasonable time frame. And I am being asked by someone I deeply care about to help people who are struggling with pain that comes from choosing to act upon the legalized act of murder. People, there is something desperately wrong with this picture.
Here in our beautiful state of Alabama as a shining light throughout our country let us choose to act upon three things together at this time. (1) Choose to get rid of all machines connected with our votes in our state and replace them with paper ballots (2) Choose Life (3) Choose kindness to horses.
Your ”Neigh”-bor,
April 19, 2024
