Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Care For God's Animals


"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; or let the fish of the sea inform you."
-- Job 12:7-8

One of my favorite things to do is watch the wild ducks swimming across the pond late in the afternoon. They come morning and night -- and sometimes in between -- for the corn we put out. I'd like to think they know they're safe here. That we welcome them. Or at least most of us do. The geese, who are permanent residents, sometimes get a little jealous.

Lately, we have been blessed by the arrival of six baby ducks. It's a big deal for us. Something usually gets the eggs or babies before they reach any size. These little ducks are getting bigger and bigger and we couldn't be happier.

Their mama is special. We adopted her a couple of years ago. I was searching for more geese and happened on a woman who does rescue work with birds. She didn't have any geese but she had one wood duck that needed a home. The duck had been shot and lost part of its wing. It could not longer fly and needed a permanent home, with food provided, because it couldn't fly and wouldn't survive otherwise. It has lived here ever since.

Maybe that's why the sight of oil-soaked birds and other creatures in the gulf and nearby marshes broke my heart. God told us to take care of the animals. He put us in charge and we have failed so miserably.

And I don't mean we have failed in just this one place so don't get too confident about yourself because you didn't spill the oil. We fail when we chain a dog outside in 95 degree weather. We fail when we don't spay or neuter a cat that roams freely. We fail when we buy a horse, put it in a pasture and ignore it. We fail when we treat God's creatures cruelly or inhumanely.

When I see the ducks coming into shore, their beauty always reminds me of the beauty of God's world. He told us to take care of it. How can we honor God unless we do?