On Sunday I went for a small walk around  Lake Titisee in the Black Forest. For obvious reasons, my two cats displayed no interest towards my planned outing and both decided to stay at home.   The place was thriving with tourists;  and as I walked through the busy tourist street I noticed quite a few  signboards standing outside coffee shops with the words  “Herzlich Willkommen” written upon them. When  literally translated, “Herzlich Willkommen”  means  something like “Heartily Welcome”.

It reminded me of the many times that I had visited localities having also  displayed such a sign at the entrance but sadly,  through bad service,  lack of motivation and the resulting  absence of  “Herzlichkeit”, they had failed to act out  the message they had been trying to transmit on their signboard.  If one genuinely wishes to heartily entertain ones guests, should one not show it?

Naturally, being “Herzlich Willkommen” is understood in some professional restaurants.

What is he talking about?  It all sounds rather weird to me.

I think I know what he means Mr Midnight.  It has something to do with the fact that human beings tend to do things, or say things,  and often do not live by what they preach.Can you remember that television commercial the other day where daddy commented upon him having visited that supermarket and his  food had been  literally thrown along the conveyor belt at the cash till?

I can´t remember having seen a television commercial or him having complained, but there again, I may have been having a small nap at the time 🙂

   But I can remember. It was an advertisement for a large “quality” supermarket (not a discount store) . It´s called “Edeka” or “Neukauf” (depending upon  ones place of abode ) and their advertising slogan is called “Wir lieben Lebensmittel”. Translated this means “We love food”.

Well if its true what you say about them just throwing the food along the conveyor-belt at the cash-till, then they obviously do not  love food as much as they wish to believe.

I think that humans like to believe that they go about things the right way; and they may even believe in  what they say, but reality seems to paint a different picture. They appear not to be aware of their actions.

Still it´s a shame that I missed the food commercial. I really like food.

Mr Midnight, we are not here to discuss food preferences.

I can also recall having heard that humans love animals – but then they eat us. This appears cruel and is  rather  sad. If they love us – why do they eat us?

But you eat birds and trap mice. That is just as bad.

But daddy, hunting mice is a part of our natural instinct. We can´t help doing it – I sometimes wish I could.

Well I suppose in a strange way, eating animals is also  human natural instinct.

Possibly, but as a human being, you do have other possibilities with which to sustain yourselves. Many humans  believe that they will get ill if they  do not eat meat but by opening   ones horizons and discovering ones own truth, one may find this “wisdom” to be invalid.  Humans seem to do things simply because they have always done it and because they like doing it, regardless of the consequences toward other beings.

Once again, It all sounds whacky to me. I don´t want to become a pair of house  slippers just so that humans can  warm their feet.

Don´t worry Mr Midnight – nothing´s going to happen to you.

I suppose that the human race  will never be able to live in Peace (something we all seem to desire) because deep down in our souls, we seem  not to live in peace (natural instinct?). We may believe that we are peaceful beings (and at our core we most likely are!), but prejudice, greed  and jealousy seem to rule our lives ( at least in small doses) and “Herzlichkeit” towards strangers  is seldom  evident. Our  trait towards destroying things  is possibly our  natural instinct and therefore, we are  not supposed to live in peace.  Our trackrecord would certainly prove this point.

Not  living life  in peace  possibly helps  the human race find new solutions to problems, thus helping make the human race   become more cleverer (at least technologically) but most certainly, the human race appears  not to have  become wiser.

Perhaps only when all  humans live in respect and find peace in their own hearts will they  all be able to live in peace on this wonderful planet.  It really is no good just wishing for peace on earth when one is   not prepared to do anything about the “state of peace”   oneself.

Social peace is desirable. Personal peace is a necessity.

You should  not all take life so seriously. Just chill out a little and take time to discover life for yourselves. Sir Winston and myself do it all the time.

Daddy, I believe it´s now time for something to eat. Have you got anything left in the cupboard from that nice supermarket where they apparently, love food?