Instinct 137 



the which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed, and to you 

 it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and 

 to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth 

 upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every 

 green herb for meat, and it was so." 



The dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 

 of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon 

 the earth, could not have been, therefore, based upon that 

 system of compulsion and slaughter, to which man has 

 reduced the original mandate. " God saw everything 

 that he had made and behold ! it was very good." 

 Therefore, the power of the dominion must have been one 

 of love. 



This strange and terrible misunderstanding of the loving 

 intention of the Great Creator of all things is announced 

 later in Genesis : 



" And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be 

 upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the 

 air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all 

 the fishes of the sea ; into your hand are they de- 

 livered." 



But this degraded concept of man's duty towards the 

 animal kingdom, only came after that debased condition 

 of mind, which is known as the fall of man, had become 

 manifest. It would seem, therefore, as though man will 

 have to alter this attitude, and return once more to his 

 original understanding, in which the animals are given 

 into his care to receive love and protection. Until his 

 mental outlook on this particular point is adjusted, just 

 so much proportionally is he excluding himself from that 

 state of mind which is called Heaven, and from which he 

 will continue to exclude himself, until he does justice to 

 the rest of creation. 



