Respect

 

For light relief, we turned to Netflix and watched My Octopus Teacher. What a touching, moving film documenting the relationship between a man and an octopus in the wilds of South African seas. The underwater echoes and songs of the humpback whales, the waving ferns and kelp forests, and the striking intelligence of this amazing creature provided restorative therapy, silencing the pollsters and the politicians and the broadcasters. If you need to escape today, you could do worse than watching this wonderful film. 

It was not all peaceful harmony underwater, though, as the octopus, a creative predator herself, was also the prey, sniffed out by pyjama sharks who lurked in caves and caverns. Once, she had one of her eight tentacles torn off; miraculously, as she convalesced in her den, the missing limb regrew. Another time, hunted mercilessly by a sizeable enemy, she finally protected herself with sharp shells, and when the shark began tossing her around, trying to dislodge the armour, she managed to propel herself onto his back, where he could not reach her. Eventually she was able to slip off into a place of refuge which he couldn’t get his nose (and teeth) into.

Nature can be cruel. I won’t disclose the ending, but be prepared. One of the aspects of the relationship which developed between man and octopus was the respect given for each creature to be who or what it was created to be. There was no intervention, even when that resulted in pain.

They say it’s not over until the last vote is counted. But we are not where I wanted us to be this morning. Given such a tight race, my prayer is that when all is done and dusted, American citizens will regard each other with grace, will listen to each other in order to learn, and will be able to debate points of view respectfully and seriously. May the name-calling tweets cease; may there be a new urgency within each of us to find a way forward which is good for the nation, and good for the planet.

Meanwhile, cover yourself with sharp shells and remember that our citizenship is in heaven, where the one in charge is good, loving, merciful and kind.