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Today I discovered this story at the BBC:
Wife-killing Yorkie advert man walks free from court

Hi Hajurba,

Your question reminds me of an incident when I was a child in Scotland. I was walking along a country road between two villages when I saw in the distance an animal moving strangely along the road. On approaching, I saw it was a rabbit. It's eyes were atrociously swollen with what I supposed was myxomatosis. The poor animal was completely disoriented and obviously very ill.

In my child's mind the solution to its plight was very simple. All I had to do was find a solid stick and give it a firm wallop on the head. After finding a suitable branch along the side of the road I had no trouble approaching the animal and giving it a solid clout on the head with all the force available in my infant arms.

To my shock it refused to comply to my scheme and stubbornly held onto life. I found myself caught looped into a cycle of violence. The more I hit the animal, the worse its condition. To this day, I cannot actually remember the outcome. It was an awful experience that marked me very profoundly. I thought, in my child logic that I could help this creature by 'putting it out of its misery'. I assumed it would be so simple. I hadn't realised that life was not for playing with and the rabbit still had its life to play out. It was not prepared for death and wanted none of it.

Thinking of the couple in the BBC story, I know from experience its not easy living with a convalescent or a dying person. It demands a special devotional energy that is hard to stay connected to in our selfish society that prefers to distance itself from the reality of serious illness or dying.

Kindest regards

Gyaltsen