animals are God's creation

The Donegal Democrat of County Donegal, Ireland recently posted a noteworthy article by Siobhan McNamaraz titled "Animals are God's Creation."  It features "one very dedicated lady" named Margaret Plunkett, a volunteer and spokesperson for Animals in Need of Donegal (which you can find on Facebook) who has loved and cared for animals all her life, including as a little girl rescuing chickens designated for slaughter:

“Back then helping animals just wasn’t done.  When I would see an animal that needed help I used to wonder why it affected me so much.  As I grew older I realised that what I had was a gift, a gift from God to love his creation.

I hope you'll have a chance to read more about Margaret and her work with Animals in Need in "Animals are God's Creation," which closes with another heartfelt quote from Margaret which I know all of us would lend a hearty amen to.  I'm grateful to Liz Jakimow for sharing this beautiful piece.

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back to the start

We don't often share material which advertises a particular product or company, but as many others have found, this "Back to the Start" short from the Chipotle restaurant chain contains a powerful message on its own.  With quaintly animated farm scenes and characters, and set to a surprisingly poignant cover by Willie Nelson of Coldplay's "The Scientist," the 2 min. video movingly portrays the shift away from traditional animal farming practices to sterile and industrialized, or "factory farming," systems; but it ends with such a hopeful revelation and commitment to returning to the way things used to be ... 

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Eddie the rescued dog and grace

Ellen Painter Dollar is a Christian who writes on "faith, family, disability, and ethics," including the genetic bone disorder which she and one of her three children live with.  She's penned an honest and heartfelt post on her family's rather awkward first two months with a rescued dog named Eddie, who lived in at least three other homes previously, and is extremely shy and often nervous.  Here are just a few lines from "What my Dog is Teaching me About Grace," which I hope you'll have a chance to read in full:

There were times in those first weeks that I was so baffled by this animal and so certain I could not ever understand what he needs, much less provide it, that the foster mom’s offer [to take Eddie back if necessary] was tempting.

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the lion will lay down with the lamb

The week before Christmas our chuch choir performed a beautiful Advent cantata which I had the privilege of participating in as a reader.  I was struck by a few passages from Isaiah which were featured in the arrangement and how much application the book has, not only to us as followers of a Messiah who came as a humble baby in a manger, but also to God's creatures and the hope He has in store for them. 

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the good good pig

If you're looking for an enjoyable read, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood, by Sy Montgomery (Ballantine '06).  I picked it up off a bookstore's featured shelf a few years ago, and could hardly put it down over the following days.

The Good Good Pig does in fact tell the story of a fine pig, dubbed Christopher Hogwood after the conductor and musicologist by the same name.  Christopher was born a sickly and tiny runt, and was spared an early death by a kind farmer who couldn't bring himself to do the deed: "George would take him out to the manure pile, intending to dispatch him quickly with a blow to the head from his shovel.  But George would watch the little piglet-his soulful eyes, his big floppy ears, his admirable will to live-and just couldn't do it" (pg. 9).

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sharks in peril - humanity takes a bite out of creation

I'm grateful to creation care advocate and friend Anna Clark, who is currently involved in an anti-shark finning campaign in her state of Texas, for sharing this heartfelt post on behalf of a creature many of us might not think needs speaking up for ...

Growing up at the height of Jaws fever, I still get nervous every time I wade knee-deep into the ocean.  I know my galeophobia is unfounded, but until this year, I had no idea how much so.  True, shark attacks -- always media sensations -- result in about five fatalities annually.  We humans, however, are biting back by killing 73-100 million sharks each year.  In the span of a few decades, the ocean's top predators, including the great white, which has endured for 16 million years, have become our prey.  At least one-third of shark species are now threatened with extinction.

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eating more compassionately in 2012

Similar to two years ago when we shared a new year's resolution post which included tips for eating in a more animal-friendly way, I wanted to highlight a great article from CNN.com's eatocracy blog with reasonable and doable suggestions for eating more compassionately in 2012 (many thanks to Rosie Andre for sharing).  Written by Gene Baur, co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, this "5@5" food feature includes advice on eating less industrially and cruelly generated farm animals and products, eating more plant-based foods in their place, and even trying vegetarianism for one meal or one day a week. 

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God's compassion for animals

A fundamental post, rich with biblical references to God's concern for animals, from Dean Ohlman of The Wonder of Creation ...

One of the many key indications of the reliability of the Bible is its addressing the broad span of the reality of life on earth.  I’m only vaguely knowledgeable of the scriptures of other religions, but I think it’s safe to say that the Bible is unparalleled in its “heart” for animals—from their origin to their destiny.  They were created by God before mankind (Gen. 1), they were put under man’s authority and responsibility (Gen. 1:20-30; Psalm 8:4-8), they were saved from destruction in the flood (Gen. 7:6-10), and they are remembered by their Creator who covenanted with them that they would continue under His protection and in His care (Gen. 9:8-16).

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the friendly beasts

I was vacuuming one of the children's rooms at church last weekend and noticed on one of the tables a copy of The Animals' Christmas Eve, a Little Golden Book which charmingly weaves together the stories of modern-day farm animals with those who surrounded Jesus at His birth:

In the barn on Christmas Eve,
After all the people leave,
The animals, in voices low,
Remember Christmas long ago ...

Written by Gale Wiersum, The Animals' Christmas Eve was originally published in 1977 (Western Publishing, see cover).  The original illustrations, though a bit dated and occasionally somewhat Anglo-Saxon, are quaintly attractive and remind me of Sunday School illustrations of a generation or two back.  An updated version of the book was released a few years ago, with more contemporary illustrations as you can see here. 

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let heaven and nature sing

Thank you to pastor Chuck Summers of Seeing Creation for allowing us to share this meaningful Advent reflection accompanied beautifully by some of Chuck's photography ...

It’s the third Sunday in Advent and since the theme for this Sunday is joy we sang “Joy to the World!” at church this morning.  This has to be one of the most familiar and popular of all Christmas hymns.  I have enjoyed singing this song since my childhood.  Even as a kid I particularly liked the part that says, “let heaven and nature sing.”  What I didn’t realize back then is that the idea of heaven and nature singing comes straight out of the Bible.

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