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part two of a reflection on W. Phillip Keller's A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 ...
We looked at the juxtaposition of Keller's compassionate and biblical animal husbandry to modern industrial animal farming in the last post. This time, I'd like to point to another contrast Keller raises between his own model of tending sheep and other far more careless methods he came in contact with personally.
When I was about 13 and with my parents on the mission field in Holland, a youth-led service was organized for the American Air Force chapel service we attended Sunday evenings, which my father assisted and later chaplained. I volunteered to give the 'sermon,' which though it was from the heart, essentially ended up being a book review of W. Philip Keller's A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 (Zondervan, org. published in '70).
But I could hardly have picked a better book to sermonize from, and was reminded of this fact when I read through the book again in recent months. Not only is the book based on one of the most meaningful and beloved passages in Scripture, but Keller's insight into the unique and nuanced dynamics of tending sheep as a longtime shepherd himself, unfamiliar to most of us today but certainly not lost on David, is unfathomably deep. I can't emphasize enough how much more meaning the psalm takes on through reading it alongside Keller's personal experience and faithful commentary.
To close out a series on the special connection we have with horses, I wanted to share one of the more poignant animal-themed books I've read, and one of the first I reviewed for not one sparrow. Susan Richards'
Chosen by a Horse is an honest and beautiful account of two intertwined stories of tragedy and redemption, the memoir of a scarred middle-aged woman wrapped around an unexpected adoption of an abused and emaciated racing horse breeder.
Susan's own story had quite a few ghosts in it, along with two horses of her own, when she suddenly got a call from a local chapter of the SPCA that several horses needed immediate rescue and housing from a filthy and derelict Standardbred farm. The horse she ends up taking home, appropriately called Lay Me Down, fights to restore her health while at the same time demonstrating an unbelievably tender and loving spirit despite all she'd gone through.
Thanks to Chuck Summers of Seeing Creation for this great reminder of the incredible "vastness and variety" of God's creation and creatures ...
In Psalm 104 the Psalmist declares “How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (v. 24, NIV) Elsewhere in this psalm the biblical writer mentions a number of creatures. He refers to “wild donkeys,” “birds of the air,” “the cattle,” “the stork,” “wild goats,” “the coneys,” “the beasts of the forest,” “lions,” and “leviathan.” He also mentions other aspects of God’s Creation: the clouds, the wind, the mountains, springs, grass, trees, the moon, the sun, the forest, and the sea. Without a doubt, the Psalmist recognized all of Creation to be God’s wonderful handiwork and a manifestation of His wisdom. God’s Creation is seen as a reason for joyful praise.
To close out a short series on a more compassionate animal farming and diet, which previously featured the "Back to the Start" animated video and "... Also Many Animals" from Rev. Leonard Vander Zee, I wanted to link to a few other Christian voices on this critical dimension of caring for God's creatures:
- The Christian Broadcasting Network posted a commendable news segment and accompanying article on Christian "alternative farmer" Joel Salatin, "Natural Farming: Inspiring Passionate 'Stewards.'" Salatin has received national attention in the natural food movement, including films such as Food, Inc. and books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma. Following the video is a great quote from Salatin in CBN's article:
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).
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.
Dean Ohlman of RBC Ministries and The Wonder of Creation shares a poignant reflection on 'wanton' hunting as a child, and coming to respect the lives of wild creatures as an adult and grandfather ...
The creation waits in eager expectation for the children 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 freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:19-22, NIV)
Good friend and not one sparrow contributor Karen Swallow Prior recently wrote a compelling reflection for Flourish's online magazine on the important role fiction has played in developing her appreciation and concern for animals, "Ask the Animals, and They Will Teach You." As chair of the English and modern languages department at Liberty University, and with a forthcoming memoir woven around her interaction with various works of literature, Karen is ideally suited to tackle this intriguing theme:
Literature—from the simplest of children’s stories to the greatest classics—is filled with animals. But just as our relationship with animals in real life is complex, the roles animals play in literature are likewise varied and inconsistent. ... Animals fall along the entire gamut in literature, from vehicles for communicating human interests to beings in their own right, worthy of care and compassion.
The next post on the theme of insects and other tiny creatures, and a poignant one at that, comes by way of Everyday Synergy and Stephanie Muzekari, who finds her home in the Orthodox Christian tradition. Here is "Fellowship" ...
"O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our little brothers to whom Thou hast given this earth as their home in common with us. May we realize that they live not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee, and that they love the sweetness of life even as we, and serve Thee better in their place than we in ours."
(St. Basil the Great)
It always saddens me when I see a child purposely stomping on ants or worms, or someone killing flies with a fly swatter (what an awful contraption!). As though their lives hold no meaning or purpose. As though God did not create even the smallest of creatures out of His love.
April 16, 2012