Seeing Creation

“…you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”  Revelation 4:11

One of the creatures I most enjoyed photographing earlier this month in Yellowstone was coyotes.  Maybe this is because I’m a “dog lover.”  Coyotes truly are beautiful creatures!  At the same time, they are one of the most hated animals in America.  Over the years they have been ruthlessly hunted, poisoned and maligned.  

It is true that from time to time coyotes kill some farmer’s sheep or somebody’s pet, but they still play a vital role in our ecological system.  If nothing else, they are an essential asset when it comes to rodent control.  Native Americans, however, have insisted for over 10,000 years that coyotes have much to teach us.  Perhaps they do.

One of the foremost coyote researchers is Bob Crabtree.  He notes, “The similarities between the social and breeding systems of the coyote and humans are striking.  Coyotes like humans, attempt to mate for life, are territorial, and build social units consisting of family members with parents, brothers and sisters helping to raise the young.”  Coyotes are very intelligent animals and have certainly proven themselves to be survivors.  Despite many attempts to eliminate them (or perhaps because of such attempts) their range has expanded dramatically in the past century.

In the book Track of the Coyote, Tom Skeele is quoted as saying “I think the future of predator control is dependent largely upon our ability to get away from looking at wildlife as being either good or bad but simply to respect its higher purpose, and I don’t mean its purpose for humans.”  I concur.

What gives us the right to determine whether an animal is good or bad?  Is its value solely dependent on whether we as humans benefit from its presence?  The Bible is clear in its teaching that God made all creatures and considers them good.  If God declares all animals “good,” who are we to say otherwise? 

I, for one, am thankful to live in a world that contains coyotes.  I am, in fact, grateful for all of God’s creatures.  Each and every one of them, coyotes included, deserve our respect.  And since each and every one bears the impress of its Creator, they also deserve our careful attention.

–Chuck

Over the years biologists have come up with various names to identify groups of animals.  Alligators form a congregation, beavers a colony, birds a flock, frogs an army, gorillas a band, lions a pride, monkeys a troop, sea otters (like those above) a raft, owls a parliament, sharks a school, whales a pod, and wolves a pack.  Human groups go by different names: crowd, community, gang, mob, tribe, etc.  But what if we wanted to come up with a group name for all creatures, what would it be?  I’d like to suggest family.

Obviously there are many things that are distinctive for each animal group but there is also much that they all have in common, especially theologically.  For starters, we all owe our existence to God.  Every creature, including man, can say with the Psalmist “It is He who has made us and not we ourselves.” (Ps. 100:3)  Second, God has declared all of His creatures to be good.  Following the fifth and sixth days of creation (the days all creatures were made) we are told “God saw that it was good.”   Third, we have all been “blessed” by God.  This, too, has been made clear in Genesis 1 (see v. 22 and 28).

 There are still other things all creatures have in common.  Fourth, we have each been given the ability to reproduce and perpetuate our species.  For all of His creatures God said “Be fruitful and multiply” (once again see v. 22 and 28).   Fifth, we are all mortal.  No creature can live forever.  Finally, we all look forward to Creation’s fulfillment in the age to come.  This is the apostle Paul’s teaching in Romans 8.  He writes, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (vs. 19-21)

There truly is much that all God’s creatures, including man, share in common.  That being so, wouldn’t it help if we began to look at all creatures as family?  I cannot help but believe that is precisely what God intended “in the beginning.”

–Chuck

Last night I had the privilege of presenting a series of digital “slide shows” to about 250 individuals at Camp Nathanael.  Camp Nathanael is a Christian camp located in Perry County, Kentucky.  Two friends of mine, Bob and Carol Murr, have lived and worked at the camp for several years as the camp’s host/hostess.  They are missionaries who have devoted their lives to serving God in a Christian camp setting. 

Bob and Carol are also licensed wildlife rehabilitators.  Presently they are working with a whitetail doe and four orphaned fawns (two of these are pictured above), three baby raccoons, a baby coyote, a barred owl and a red-tailed hawk.  Watching them work with these animals it is obvious that they love what they do and love the animals they work with.  Once they come under their care each animal receives a name.  Bob and Carol consider their work as wildlife rehabilitators to be part of their ministry.  They even use the animals at camp to help teach both children and adults spiritual lessons.

Caring for wildlife might just be the oldest profession there is.  In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were given the responsibility of naming and caring for all the creatures that God had made.  God said they were to have “dominion” over them.  Unfortunately many have misunderstood the true nature of this word and interpreted it to mean “do with whatever you like.”  That was never God’s intention.

Commenting on Genesis 1:28, Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, notes “The dominance is that of a shepherd who cares for, tends, and feeds the animals.”  Brueggemann goes on to say “…the task of ‘dominion’ does not have to do with exploitation and abuse.  It has to do with securing the well-being of every other creature and bringing the promise of each to full fruition.”    I get the impression that Bob and Carol Murr are doing just this and for that they are to be commended. 

–Chuck Summers