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One of the best essays of all time is "The Seen and The Unseen" by Fr…

One of the best essays of all time is "The Seen and The Unseen" by Frederic Bastiat. It's about economics and regulation but applies to so much in life. This morning, I found part of a snake my cat had eaten last night. She often leaves little parts, and I've found worms crawling out of these parts before. Perhaps she saw them and decided not to keep eating. Of course, the eggs would be microscopic, unseen. There were no worms this morning, but I threw out the snake bits. Later, my son was crawling around on his hands and knees. I thought about the microscopic eggs that might be there. Should I grab him and wash his hands then wash the floor with bleach? Then I thought about all the other places he crawls on hands and knees, and how many sick animals there are here in Panama. Most pets seem to have parasites here, and strays outnumber pets. Certainly, there are 10x as many strays sneaking into my yard as I have pets. And that's not including wild animals like snakes. So I let go. I'll never be able to control his exposure to parasites. I can never control all these unseen risks. But I can *not* expose him to bleach. I can keep his immune system strong, with healthy food and probiotics. I, and we as a community, can try to keep our animals healthy. But some will be sick, and I can't control that. Similarly, these strays do massive harm to the ecosystem. It would be far better to keep tighter control of the population of these invasive domestic species that we import. It's easy to love an animal that you see, but hard to remember the damage they're doing to countless other, vulnerable species. But I can't control that either. So I will do exactly what I can, then let all the rest go. Let my son live. Let the cats and dogs live, since I can't legally do anything about them. It's in God's hands, and I have faith. Time for me to act and think like it. 🙏 #parenting #microbiome #immunesystem #economics #freedom #liberty #parasite #letgo #spirituality

One of the best essays of all time is "The Seen and The Unseen" by Frederic Bastiat. It's about economics and regulation but applies to so much in life.

This morning, I found part of a snake my cat had eaten last night. She often leaves little parts, and I've found worms crawling out of these parts before. Perhaps she saw them and decided not to keep eating. Of course, the eggs would be microscopic, unseen.

There were no worms this morning, but I threw out the snake bits. Later, my son was crawling around on his hands and knees. I thought about the microscopic eggs that might be there. Should I grab him and wash his hands then wash the floor with bleach?

Then I thought about all the other places he crawls on hands and knees, and how many sick animals there are here in Panama. Most pets seem to have parasites here, and strays outnumber pets. Certainly, there are 10x as many strays sneaking into my yard as I have pets. And that's not including wild animals like snakes.

So I let go. I'll never be able to control his exposure to parasites. I can never control all these unseen risks. But I can *not* expose him to bleach. I can keep his immune system strong, with healthy food and probiotics. I, and we as a community, can try to keep our animals healthy. But some will be sick, and I can't control that.

Similarly, these strays do massive harm to the ecosystem. It would be far better to keep tighter control of the population of these invasive domestic species that we import. It's easy to love an animal that you see, but hard to remember the damage they're doing to countless other, vulnerable species. But I can't control that either.

So I will do exactly what I can, then let all the rest go. Let my son live. Let the cats and dogs live, since I can't legally do anything about them. It's in God's hands, and I have faith. Time for me to act and think like it. 🙏

#parenting #microbiome #immunesystem #economics #freedom #liberty #parasite #letgo #spirituality

2024-11-24