Gut Level Part 7
December 16, 2025
Gut Level Part 7
It was blackberry season, so with pots in hand, my brother Trevor and I made our way to the thick berry bushes where the wetlands met the dunes. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Gulf Shores, Alabama, was mostly unsettled with vast stretches of open beaches and vegetation that reached down to the Gulf of Mexico. We were two small boys picking berries along the dirt road near our family’s cottage in the dunes when suddenly, we found ourselves running for our lives.
Perched on a nearby dune was a giant panther, her kittens tumbling playfully around her feet. When her eyes met ours, we froze, then dropped our pots and ran for our lives. Our guts told us to flee. Gasping for breath, we burst into the cottage and told our mother. She drove us back to see if what we saw was real. And there she was—the great, regal cat, still standing watch over her young.
To this day, whenever we pass that now paved, busy road, we remember the mother panther and are grateful she spared us. Why didn’t she attack? Don’t mothers fiercely protect their young? Perhaps she sensed that we were not a threat, just two small boys, not unlike her kittens.
We ran because that’s what we were taught to do. Our culture conditions us to flee from things we fear, such as snakes, mad dogs, or anything labeled “dangerous.” The same culture teaches us to fear “the other.”
Now, grown and painfully aware of the rapid loss of those dunes and wetlands, I see that it was we who were the intruders. It was our kind who slowly erased the panther’s home. She was merciful that day—more merciful than our species has been to hers.
Recently, the world lost Jane Goodall, whose words echo in my heart as I remember that encounter:
“And if we dare to look into those eyes, then we shall feel their suffering in our hearts. More and more people have seen that appeal and felt it in their hearts. All around the world, there is an awakening of understanding and compassion, and a growing awareness that reaches out to help the suffering animals in their vanishing homelands. That embraces hungry, sick, and desperate human beings, people who are starving while the fortunate among us have so much more than we need. And if, one by one, we help them, the hurting animals, the desperate humans, then together we shall alleviate so much of the hunger, fear, and pain in the world. Together, we can bring about change in the world, gradually replacing fear and hatred with compassion and love. Love for all living beings.”
Spiritual practice: How can we help those we are pushing out—both human and animal?
Self-inquiry: What do Goodall’s words mean to you: “And if we dare to look into those eyes, then we shall feel their suffering in our hearts?”
Prayer:
Dear God, For Jane’s life, I give you thanks, for she lived the love she spoke of. She showed us that we and the animals are more alike than different— and that they deserve our reverence and respect. She has been a light for me. Amen.
