this is my father's world

I first posted this Thanksgiving reflection two years ago, and again last year.  As I once again find myself heading into the holiday with much on my mind, I wonder if it's becoming a bit of an annual marker ...

Today is a day for giving thanks, and no doubt many of us are sharing the day with family, around a special meal prepared and enjoyed together.  It's a day for pausing to reflect on the many things we have to be grateful for, and certainly the wonderment of the animals in our homes, neighborhoods and throughout our world is one of them. 

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happy turkey day?

I've been admittedly reluctant to write a post on this subject in recent years.  I have many happy memories of Thanksgivings past which prominently featured a turkey as the main course, and multiple turkey sandwiches afterward.  Thanksgiving traditions run deep in our society, and it's a time for remembering all we have to be thankful for, including the family and friends who share our tables, and the food upon it.  Please know I don't mean to detract from the day in the least.

But in honoring this special day and its traditions of gratitude, it's important that we're able not only to give thanks for the bird at the center of our meal, but for the life which God gave it, and for the way it was raised and slaughtered.  As someone once poignantly put it, are we truly able to say "grace" over the food before us, even a Thanksgiving turkey?

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Lil' Drac the orphaned baby bat

This is such a soothing, sweet video of volunteers at Bat World Sanctuary carefully and tenderly caring for a tiny orphaned short-tailed fruit bat, whom they came to name 'Lil' Drac.'  According to the video, his mother was rescued after a zoo closed, but "the stress of the transfer caused her to abandon her baby," which apparently isn't uncommon: 

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sabbath, animals included

A poignant reflection from Nancy Janisch of Conversation in Faith on how the biblical concept of sabbath, or "a period of rest" (Dictionary.com), is meant for animals as well ...

The Bible doesn’t have much to say about God’s relationship with animals.  This isn’t surprising since the Bible is part of God’s revelation to humans and thus the relationship between God and humanity is the focus of the story.  God’s revelation to animals, whatever it is, is unknown to us.  Since animals are not storytellers - at least in the way we tell stories - it seems logical that God’s revelation to animals would be different from God’s revelation to us and  appropriate for and intelligible to animals.

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naming again all the animals

A great post from Our Father's World and Lowell Bliss, who wasn't alone in not knowing that 'woodchuck' and 'groundhog' are two names for the same animal, or in feeling too old for roller coasters ...

As part of our summer vacation this year, we found ourselves at Canada’s Wonderland, a colossal amusement park near Toronto.  My teenage son has discovered roller coasters as a passion, and so we strapped ourselves into the Behemoth, riding up to a height of 230 feet and then plunging down at 77 mph.  The Behemoth cost $26 million to build.  But all day it was like that: we were surrounded by acres of ingenious and costly technologies engineered with the sole purpose to amuse and thrill.

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19th century British Evangelicals on cruelty to animals

Following our two historic and extraordinary examples of early 19th century British Evangelicals speaking out in a strong way against cruelty toward God's creatures.  First is the passionate poem "On Cruelty to Brute Animals," from a Friendly Hints poetry section of The Evangelical Magazine, 1806:

A MAN of kindness to his beast be kind;
But brutal actions shew a brutal mind.
Remember, he who made thee made the brute;
Who gave thee speech and reason, form'd him mute:
He can't complain; but God's omniscient eye
Beholds thy cruelty,—he hears his cry.
He was design'd thy servant and thy drudge;
But know,—that his Creator is thy Judge!

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the interloper

"The Interloper" is a poignant poem contemplating the relationship of wildlife to God and to ourselves from Ben Witherington, a respected evangelical scholar and author, and professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary ...

On lime stones we’d laid
The chipmunk sat erect
His beady brown eye watched me
Wondering what to expect

While he devoured a nut
His teeth worked at warp speed
He sat oh so still
Satisfying his need.

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feel-good Monday

We've been running a few posts on companion animals, and it seemed high time in general to share some uplifting and cute stories about our four-legged friends ...

- First, a heartwarming video of Winston the cat taking care of his canine buddy Zeke just home from the vet and a bad allergy reaction.  Winston licks him clean and then straddles on top of him to sleep (from Purina Animal All Stars).

- This is a cute video of a baby cuddling with an unbelievably amiable and patient cat, one of several clips if you look to the right on the YouTube page:

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Grady the Gray Cat

Earlier this year I bumped into Christian author Lori A. Moore on Twitter, who most recently has written a book for children called Grady the Gray Cat (Tate Publishing '11).  I don't know of many books for children written by fellow believers with a strong message of concern for animals in general, or the value of adopting a pet in particular.  So I was grateful to Lori when she sent me a copy to review for not one sparrow.

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closing tracks, a win for all

It was great to see Citizen Link, a Focus on the Family affiliate, address horse and dog racing earlier this year in a blog post by Chad Hills.  In "Closing Tracks, A Win for All," Hill mentions some of the harsh realities which racing horses and dogs can face, including whipping in the case of horses and inhumane warehouse kennelling for greyhounds, and all too frequent injury and euthanasia for both of these noble creatures.

Hills also mentions the gambling machine supporting both racing industries, even gambling unrelated to the actual races: "Today, if a track survives, it’s likely dependent on revenue from highly addictive slot machines.  Empty stands surrounding the tracks replay past generations’ entertainment to a mere handful of spectators like a dusty, broken record."

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