Seeing Creation

Today I had the privilege of speaking at the funeral of a member of my church.  The person who died, Ben Cline, was a very good man with a lot of wonderful traits.  One of the traits I spoke about may have come as a surprise to some.  Ben had a soft spot in his heart for stray animals.  Over the years he had taken in numerous cats and dogs and nursed them back to health.  His family told me about how he bottle-fed some and they recalled how he slept in the floor with one cat for two nights trying to help it get better.  I already had a lot of admiration for Ben for the whole time I knew him he was battling a serious disease and did so with much courage and dignity.  After hearing of the compassion he had for stray animals my admiration only grew greater.  That compassion says a lot about a person’s character.

St. Francis once said “If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellowmen.”  Apparently St. Francis believed that how one looked at animals said a lot about that person.  I would agree with that.  So would the philosopher Immanuel Kant who said “He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.  We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”  Not surprisingly, Ben believed strongly in showing respect to all people, not matter where they came from or how rich or poor they might be.  There was, in fact, a correlation between his compassion for animals and his fellowman.

I sometimes struggle with the picture the Bible presents concerning animals.  There are parts where animals almost appear worthless.  There are other parts where their value is shown and emphasized.  In the Creation story we read that when God made the various creatures He declared them “good.”  (Genesis 1:24–25)  Later when the earth is destroyed by flood God makes sure that Noah saves creatures from all species so that after the flood they, too, might repopulate the earth.  Later still, when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses He not only ordered a day of rest for humans but for their animals as well. (Exodus 20:10)

There is a closer bond or connection between humans and animals than most people realize.  According to Genesis 2 we were both brought forth from the earth by God and in Genesis 1 we were both created on the same day.  Needless to say we share the same earth and are dependent on it for our survival.  There are also some who believe that God made animals to be our companions.  In Genesis 2:19 we read that God brought all the animals to Adam and “whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”  The very fact that the animals were named may well imply that a relationship was established between “man and beast.”

Unfortunately, many have completely misunderstood God’s call for humans to “rule over” or “have dominion over” all creatures to mean they were to dominate them and treat them however they wish.  (Genesis 1:26) In his book, For Love of Animals, Charles Camosy says Jesus interpreted “dominion” not as domination but servanthood.  He adds, “we are called to be like Jesus and use our dominion to serve and protect the most vulnerable.  This includes vulnerable nonhuman animals.  With Christ as our guide, human dominion over creation must be about self-sacrificial love–not consumerist exploitation.”

In the end I do believe that animals deserve our compassion.  Proverbs 12:10 says “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”  I am grateful for the example of Ben Cline in this area and I know that there are many others like him out there.  I just wish there were more.

–Chuck

(The top two images are Boomer and Taz, pets of my friends John and Christi Edwards.  The bottom image shows my dog, Sierra.)

Some of the most famous words attributed to Francis of Assisi are the following: “All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made, and first my Lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.  How beautiful he is, how radiant in all his splendor!  Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.  All praise be yours, my Lord through Sister Moon and stars; in the heavens you made them bright and precious and fair…”

I suspect many would view St. Francis’ words as whimsical or strange.  Who goes around calling the sun her “brother” or the moon his “sister”?  Not many, I suppose, but I’ve come to appreciate the way Francis and others over the centuries have viewed various elements of God’s Creation as family members.  In fact, I wonder at times if some of our environmental woes may have been averted if we had not lost grasp of our familial connection to the rest of the earth.  Everything that exists—the sun, moon, earth, plants, animals, humans—has the same source, God.  We all come from God and we all belong to God.  That makes us family, does it not?

Two key ingredients in any healthy family are love and respect.  I am very thankful to be a part of a family where these two virtues are abundant.  Where these virtues are absent trouble is inevitable.  This is true not just for our immediate family but also for our extended family that includes all of Creation.   Every person and every thing that God has made deserves our love and respect.  If we do not extend them this there will be trouble.  You can count on it.

The rest of Creation is due our love and respect, if for no other reason, because God made it and it manifests His glory.  St. Francis’ words cited above reveal his belief that praise comes to God through all that He has made.  Note carefully his words “through all.”   Recognizing that all of God’s Creation should be viewed as family helped Francis see the beauty inherent in God’s handiwork.  This beauty, in turn, led him to offer his worship and praise to the Maker of heaven and earth.

Each day and each night we have visual reminders in the sky of God’s goodness and love.  Let us give thanks for “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon” for the light—both physical and spiritual—they shine upon us.  Let us also join with them in offering our praise to “the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17).  It’s a wonderful thing, after all, when families can do things together…

–Chuck

(I photographed the sunrise and moonset shown above a couple of weeks ago in Big Bend National Park.)

“Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you–the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground–so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.”  (God’s word to Noah in Genesis 8:17)

Today is World Communion Sunday.  On this day Christians worldwide share Communion and also reflect on how we are all one in the Body of Christ.  The Lord’s Supper should remind us that despite different beliefs and practices that sometimes separate us we are still united in Christ.

Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Francis.  Francis of Assisi has come to be known as the patron saint of both ecology and animals.  Many churches have a blessing of animals on October 4.  St. Francis was known to preach to the animals and considered them his brothers and sisters.  He believed that God loved the animals and that so should we.

I find it interesting that World Communion Sunday and the Feast of St. Francis are joined next to each other on the calendar this year.  One reminds us of our communion with other believers while the other reminds us of our communion with other creatures.  In the world we live in, both reminders are needed.

Over the past few days I’ve been watching the BBC series “Life.”  Rob recommended this series to me earlier this year so I bought the DVD set.  As I have watched the various segments of this series I have been reminded that we humans truly do share a bond with all of God’s creatures.  We tend to focus on what sets humans apart from other creatures but there is really far more that links us with other creatures.

It is certainly worth noting that we all share the same Creator.  The same God who made us also created the birds, reptiles, mammals, insects and fish.   We also, of course, share the same planet.  We are all dependent on the same basic things—the sun, the air, water, and food.  We all depend on our parents’ nurture and protection in infancy and we all have a strong will to live and reproduce. 

I think that our lives would be enhanced in many ways if we Christians could grasp not just the concept of the “communion of saints” but our communion with all of Creation as well.  It would change how we see Creation and how we live out our lives on this planet.  God has already established this communion; it is now our task to take part in it.

–Chuck

(The top image is a snow goose I photographed in New Mexico and the bottom a brown bear or grizzly photographed in Alaska.)