Cultivating a Reverence for Life
Date Published: July 31, 2024
Publisher: BookBaby
In For Our Friends the Animals, Robert Echols delivers a stirring spiritual call to action for Christians and all people of conscience to embrace a reverence for life in its fullest form.
Blending biblical truth, compassionate prayers, and the life-affirming philosophy of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, this powerful work urges readers to see animals not as commodities—but as beloved creations of God. In Part One, Echols explores the deep moral and spiritual responsibility we hold toward all creatures. In Part Two, he presents practical steps to confront today's most pressing animal welfare issues—from factory farming to environmental degradation.
Whether you're a lifelong advocate or someone opening your heart to new possibilities, For Our Friends the Animals invites you into a faith-driven movement of empathy and transformation. Through spiritual insight and practical guidance, the book empowers readers to become stewards of compassion, protecting both creation and Creator's intention.
“This book is not just a read—it’s a spiritual pledge. A call to embody Christ’s love by caring for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
Join the movement. Embrace the message. Be the change.
Story that I want to highlight.
Let us in our gratitude focus on the greatest gift of
all—our very lives. May we always view our lives, our creation, as evidence of
God’s overarching love for us. Let us pause for a moment and consider the
miracle of life. Consider that miracle, consider how unlikely it is that we are
even here, and in that consideration may we realize that in relation to this
gift from God, our single most heartfelt and effective manifestation of
appreciation is to use our lives for His purposes. We best express our gratitude
by using His wondrous gift, our own lives, to fulfill and complete the tasks He
has set before us to accomplish. Are we required to do this? No. We can as many
people do, accept a gift without thanks and without any thought of reciprocity.
But that route leads to pure selfishness and is the polar opposite of what the
love and respect for God contemplates.
Show gratitude by seeking to accomplish the tasks
that God sends our way.
One such task is to live a life of affirmative
compassion, to render aid and assistance to others who are in need. May we give
thanks for our lives by providing aid and comfort to those struggling with
their existence. May we discharge our debt to the Lord by showering those who
are downtrodden and despondent with compassion and care. May we render thanks
by helping others to elevate themselves such that they, too, will seek their
own ways of discharging their obligations to God. May we understand that in helping
others, we form a united group of believers who in turn seek new members to
help and then bring to the fold. May we never be satisfied until those to whom
we
provide assistance are also thanking God and seeking
their own opportunities to serve others.
Finally, as part of our being grateful, may we never
forget our obligations to those who cannot thank God as we can, the animals.
They love their lives as much as we humans love ours, and in a sense, as we
should also be doing, they show their appreciation for life by acting in the
manner He intended. As a reward for our existence on earth, may we give thanks
for the chance that God bestows on us to be stewards to and trustees of all
creatures, to all life that reflects that magnificence of His works. So while
we seek to help and serve the downcast, let us extend that help and service to
the animals.
By our prayers, our caring, and our acts of kindness
may we do His will, caring for all
His creatures, giving thanks and giving back the blessings and opportunities provided us. By extending our circle of compassion to the animals, indeed to all life as much as we can, may we indeed achieve “true communion with Him.”
Message for readers.
It is my fervent hope and prayer that the
spirit of Jesus will also impel and inform our own actions and thoughts and
will lead us to the inescapable conclusion that the compassion resident in the
ethos of a reverence for life must be applied to all animals, indeed to all
life. This is simply because our anthropocentrism, our unflagging yet highly
dubious and injurious belief that the human animal is somehow more deserving
than other life forms, is causing great harm to and often the untold deaths of
countless other animals, species, and their habitats. In so doing, of course,
it is causing a similar result among humans. In fact, there is substantial
evidence that our anthropocentric cravings and resultant actions have played a
major role in the creation and outbreak of COVID-19, the most recent corona
virus menace. There can be no greater conceit than to imagine that merely
because we are human we can lay claim to some carte blanche authorization to
treat other lives according to our whims. On the contrary, we should
acknowledge the obvious; namely, that we are one of millions of species, of
life forms, blessed with the power of intelligent thought and organizational
ability. May this book, advanced by and written under the aegis of the spirit
of Jesus, urge our thinking and behavior toward adoption of a reverence for
life as our common cause.
It is the power of that spirit that I
gratefully acknowledge and invoke.
Tell Me About Your Book
At the outset of this book we posited a twin theme
and goal of education and inspiration. I profoundly hope that the reader would
be moved by the twinning of the philosophy of a reverence for life with its
spiritual foundation to a stage of enlightenment regarding animal treatment.
Through an analysis of the thought of Albert Schweitzer and the corresponding
biblical underpinnings of that thought, here is a lucid and easily understood
synthesis of reason and spirit regarding human duties toward all other life on
this planet. From that synthesis would emerge an army of motivated people
ready, through their own acts of kindness, to start to alter the horrific lives
currently led by so many creatures, mainly due to human action and inaction.
It occurs to me, however, that my views are woefully
myopic. The changes I posit and predict will indeed take place, but only
because of literally billions of individual choices and decisions made by very
large numbers of people. It will require time and effort for us to inculcate a
reverence for life, and one must be candid and aver that our work will never be
done. We will never be able to declare victory and go home, as each day will
present us with challenges and opportunities, each day will find us facing our
preconceived notions and prejudices regarding animals, and acknowledging and
combating them.
The ultimate aim of this book is a concerted change
in how we view animals (adopting a reverence for life as our ethos) followed up
with an equally concerted change in our behavior toward animals based on our
new ethos. I believe that while Dr. Schweitzer’s philosophy is indeed the ideal
toward which we must strive, it is our acceptance of the underlying
spirituality of that philosophy that will provide the impetus to reify that
philosophy into habitual action. We humbly invoke the spirit of Jesus to make this
happen.
For the reader, then, do not expect this change in
your behavior, or the behavior of others, to transpire immediately. Rather,
armed with a reverence for life and believing in its forceful spirituality,
every day seek to improve your performance, every day take at least one step
closer to being an entity filled with compassion, and that will be enough. I
pray earnestly that the spirit of Jesus will suffuse itself in all you do and
permeate your entire being. I look forward to hearing your stories of how you
have brought a reverence for life to bear on your dealings with animals.
About the Author
Robert Echols is a spiritual author, thought leader, and passionate advocate for animals and all of God’s creation. As the author of For Our Friends the Animals: Cultivating a Reverence for Life, Echols blends Christian spirituality, biblical wisdom, and the moral philosophy of Dr. Albert Schweitzer to offer a powerful message: we are called to protect and uplift all living beings.
A cancer survivor and U.S. Army veteran, Robert's life journey has been guided by service—to his country, his faith, and now, to the voiceless creatures that share our planet. He is the founder and former president of the For Our Friends the Animals Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to financially supporting animal shelters, rescues, and sanctuaries. Under his leadership, the foundation funded the construction of animal shelters in Florida, putting faith into action and making his life his argument, as Schweitzer once wrote.
Robert frequently shares his message of compassion on LinkedIn, in podcasts, and as a guest speaker throughout the Mobile Bay, Alabama area. With academic credentials from Phillips Exeter Academy, New York University, and Emory University (J.D./M.B.A.), and a past career as an ethics officer and Army JAG attorney, Robert’s voice is both seasoned and deeply principled.
His current writing project is a four-volume spiritual treatise titled For Our Friends the Animals, empowering others to embrace a universal love rooted in Christ’s teachings and a reverence for all life.
“Let my words inspire you to become a steward of the earth and a champion for animals—because the love of Jesus is not just for humanity, but for all creation.”
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