animals in the eyes of children

Following on Liz Jakimow's post "Special Attachments," Lauren Merritt of The Christian and Creation offers another valuable perspective on our tendency to value animals differently, and looks to the example of her toddler son in countering it ...

My son Daniel fell and fractured his femur several weeks ago, right before his second birthday.  For almost two weeks we were stuck inside on the sofa, waiting for the pain and swelling to go down, reading books and watching movies and coloring over and over and over … and over.  Finally, he was comfortable enough to move around a little bit and was able to take rides in a wagon which accommodated his large spica cast.

Our first trip out of the house in two weeks was to the Louisville Zoo.  I was so excited to get out of the house and I knew Daniel would love seeing all the animals (and of course, so would I).  So off we went, fifteen minutes down the highway with our new zoo pass, to see all of God’s wonderful creatures.

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special attachments

valuable insight from Liz Jakimow of God and Gum Nuts into the natural attachments we form with certain parts of God's creation, even certain animals, and how God can use them for an even greater good ...

Today I read an article ("Koalas, People and Climate Change: Not a Good Mix," by Christine Adams-Hosking) that told me that the koala is highly vulnerable to climate change.  This is according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which places it in a list of only 10 species in the world.

I visit a lot of environmental sites and read a lot of environmental newsletters.  So I'm used to hearing bad news.  But this article hit me in a way few other articles have.

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talking to animals on Christmas Eve

It's becoming a bit of a Christmas Eve tradition to share this reflection from Nancy Janisch of Conversation in Faith, a heartfelt and hopeful complement for 'the night before' ...

When you were young, did anyone ever tell you that animals can talk at midnight on Christmas?  I don’t remember who told me, but I do remember looking expectantly at our family Dachshund for several years on Christmas Eve.  For the record, he never said anything.  At least not in a human language.

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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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hearts on our sleeves for starlings

Brave Saint Saturn is a modern rock group with a solid Christian foundation and message, headed up by former Five Iron Frenzy frontman Reese Roper.  The song "Starling" from their most recent album Anti-Meridian is about two memorable encounters which Reese had as a child with neighborhood birds near death, the second of which he shot with an air gun, and quickly comes to regret doing so:

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the birdslayer

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)

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against animal violence

A few months ago I bumped into Kurt Willems on Twitter, a writer and pastor who journals at The Pangea Blog on theology, ethics, ministry and recently even animals!  Kurt kindly offered to share a post I wrote on the theme of nonviolence which is close to his heart as an Anabaptist evangelical.  Here's a preview of "The Nonviolence of the Kingdom ... Towards Animals":

Witnessing such acts as Lincoln and Sobosan did, and the resulting agony of noble and harmless creatures, would have been hard for me to process as a child well.  I don’t know that I would have reacted more approvingly of explicit cruelty as I grew into adolescence and something resembling adulthood.  But I do know that the deep-seated fascination and heart which I had for the animal kingdom as a boy was replaced with a practical indifference to their existence, and wellbeing.

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Noah's Ark

When we were visiting my parents back in May, a book in my mom's children's collection grabbed my attention.  It was Noah's Ark, a mostly wordless telling of the well-known event recorded in Genesis 6-9, by Dutch-born American children's book author and illustrator Peter Spier, for which he was awared the prestigious Caldecott Medal. 

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loving Charlotte

I'm grateful to share the following very personal reflection on Charlotte's Web from my friend and former English Comp. professor at Moody Bible Institute, Jamie Janosz.  Jamie continues to teach in the Communications department at Moody and serve as Associate Dean, and she blogs on a variety of heartfelt themes at Media and the Middle-School Mom ...

There is a photo of my brother and I in our family album.  I am about 8 years old - outfitted in a turquoise polka dot hand-sewn smock with long triangular sleeves.  My brother, Tim, standing next to me, is 5 years old and wearing a matching vest (both sewn by our industrious mother).

We are at a petting zoo - and the reason my face is contorted in a hideous cry is because a goat (who I was innocently trying to feed) decided to try to eat me - or at least the sleeve of my smock.  My brother Tim, meanwhile, has a huge smile on his face and is surrounded by about five goats, feeding them peacefully one at a time.

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animals, birds and other creatures

I'm excited to finally get our series on favorite children's books started!  We've highlighted some excellent books for children in the past, including a recent article from Karen Swallow Prior over at Flourish ("Ask the Animals") which featured the classic Black Beauty and The Black Stallion.  We have a few reviews from friends lined up which I can't wait to share, and it's not too late to submit one of your own if you're interested!

But I thought I'd break the ice by mentioning an animal book which was a favorite as a child, and which I've come to love to read with my own toddler son Jadon.  Inside my somewhat worn copy of A Comic and Curious Collection of Animals, Birds and Other Creatures by Bobbie Craig is an inscription which reads "To: Ben, From: Mommy & Daddy - Christmas 1981."  I know they must have read it to me a million times, my mom especially, as much of an animal lover as they said I was from very early on.

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