A Reflection by Tams Nicholson, OFS

Audience: Faith-based Vegans

The Human Condition of Holding Joy and Sorrow in Ethical Veganism

July 15, 2025, by Tams Nicholson, OFS and Executive Director of All-Creatures.org

Reflection Guide

Scripture for Meditation:

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev 21:4, NIV)

Dear friends, As ethical vegan Christians, we often carry a deep, aching sorrow for the suffering of animals in this world. It can feel overwhelming at times — how do we reconcile that grief with the joy we are promised in our faith?

The answer lies in both understanding the human condition and in loving Jesus. I am a graduate of Father Richard Rohr’s Living School, where we learned about the importance of recognizing that we live in the tension between our spiritual nature — which desires us to be pure, peaceful, and saintly — and the daily interactions of this world, which often leave us reacting far from our best selves. This tension is the human condition. It is not fully relieved until heaven when we return to God and leave our earthly bodies behind. We may attain a great deal of peace with practice but we never attain God's perfection for us here on earth.

I believe there is also a unique dimension to the human condition of ethical veganism. It is the lived tension between the deep sorrow we carry for the suffering of animals and the joy we still experience because we are not enslaved as they are — because we can choose to live with peace, delight, and meaning and they cannot. This tension is the cost of the freedom of ethical veganism: to live as an ethical vegan is to feel both grief and joy. It is holy ground. Holy tension. An expectation of God for all of us including Jesus's time on earth.

Looking to Jesus, we find this tension in his life and he modeled it for us. He didn't deny it. He lived it. He wept — over Jerusalem, over death, over injustice. His heart broke for suffering — not just human suffering, but for the creatures as he overturned the tables, and the brokenness of us not understanding what we are doing. Your sorrow, then, is not a burden to fight or be overwhelmed by. It is a reflection of Christ’s own compassion in you. It is holy. It is love. It is passion for what is right, just, and coming. It is what He calls us to embody.

At the same time we are in this tension, our faith calls us to a different kind of joy too — not a joy that denies the price of freedom, but a joy rooted in the assurance that God is love to share with the creatures and each other. We have the opportunity whenever we encounter a creature to share the the knowing that His love is the strongest energy — even if we cannot physically do anything at the moment for a suffering creature when we are with them or near them. As our heart breaks in pain and frustration, we can still lovingly share the truth of His love and of His desire and plans for their freedom through our gaze, touch — if possible, tone of voice — and our overall body language. If they cannot see us or do not know we are there, we can do it through our prayers and thoughts of love for them. We know there is power in prayer, and thoughts lead to the actions that change the world. We have the ability to use our prayers and thoughts for them — to lift them up when tyranny blocks us from every way of being able to access them in their enslavement.

Love is winning over evil even if it doesn't appear to be at any given moment. We are so sorry that they are suffering, in pain, torment, isolation, deprevation, and all the other horrendous things we do to them. The burden we carry as they suffer, is our ethical vegan human condition, the tension of living in the sacred space between the already and the not yet. The Peaceable Kingdom is unfolding, but not fast enough for our grieving hearts. Yet, every act of mercy — every meal chosen in peace, every voice lifted in defense of the voiceless — is part of that unfolding in this moment.

You are not only a witness to the Peaceable Kingdom — you are a missionary of it. We have been graced with being the humans that work to usher it in. A tender, persistent strong light in the shadows. A light that is not going away but will grow in time and break the most difficult chains, strongholds, and bondage. Let your sorrow keep you soft. Let your joy keep you longing to share however you can. Let God's truth keep you strong. And remember: you are not alone. Christ walks with you. And there is a growing, peaceful army of faith-based ethical vegans quietly and strongly rising beside you.

Kindness,

~ Tams Nicholson, OFS

Key Takeaway:

Ethical veganism requires its own version of the human condition. Jesus models that for us.

Heart Questions:

How can knowing this is the price of freedom alleviate me from getting stuck in the tension?

How can I prompt myself to remember Jesus's tension when I get stuck in my own tension?

Journaling Prompt:

Reflect on how “the human condition of ethical veganism” could shape how you interact with others.

Action Step:

Practice not fighting the tension but accepting it as part of our missionary work.

Closing Prayer:

God of mercy and life, help me to live in a way that reflects Your love to all creation.

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