Monday, July 16, 2012

7-15-2012 - Brother and Sister Creatures


Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights! 
Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host! 

Praise him, sun and moon;
   praise him, all you shining stars! 
Praise him, you highest heavens,
   and you waters above the heavens! 

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for he commanded and they were created. 
Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you sea monsters and all deeps, 
fire and hail, snow and frost,
   stormy wind fulfilling his command! 

Mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars! 
Wild animals and all cattle,
   creeping things and flying birds! 

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth! 
Young men and women alike,
   old and young together! 

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven.

            Today we gather together with our beloved pets, fellow creations of our heavenly Father, and we join together with them in praise of our God.  We worship with them outside, surrounded by God’s wonderful creation and the birds and animals of the world as well.  Just as in the reading from Revelation today, we gather alongside our brothers and sisters of Creation to praise God and to thank God for all that God has done for us and continues to do for us.  Praise the Lord!  We give thanks to God for all that God has done for us, and for all the gifts that God has given to His creation!  Our Psalm today speaks of all people and all creatures worshipping God together, thanking God for creating us and for caring for each and every one of us. 
            And we can call creatures our brothers and sisters, because we are all born of the same Father, God, and we are all created from the same dust.  Each living thing, from the smallest ant to the blue whale, all created by our loving God, who created us for one another.  Not so that we may use and abuse each other, but that we may enjoy one another’s company and be a blessing to one another.  Our Genesis reading tells us that all creatures were created in the hope that we as humans would not be alone, that they were created that we may be in community with them.  Not so that they could be subservient beings, but that they we may be in community together and support one another.  
            Of course, that ideal was not met in this Genesis story.  Instead, Adam is put to sleep by God and a rib is taken from him to create woman, in order that she may be his partner.  And their live are connected beyond words or feelings, because they are flesh of the same flesh and bone of the same bone.  While the creatures are like brothers and sisters to Adam, the woman is the same being.  There is a reason that we humans do not marry our dogs and cats, but instead are called to one another as partners in life, to share our dreams and our sorrows and our pleasure.  We are designed for one another.  Our entire civilization is built on the fact that humanity is built to be together, and not alone.  We are called to be in community, in order that we may serve and help one another instead of having to go through life isolated.  We also worship God together, because united we are able to rejoice all the more, not only for God’s creation of us and our relationship with God, but also because we can be thankful for one another, for the blessings that we give one another through our mere presence.
            This blessing though carries into the rest of creation as well.  While we may not be as closely knit together with our brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom, we are still united, still related through God.  Albert Einstein once said that “Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”  Oftentimes, freedom can be misinterpreted into the ability to do whatever it is that we want to do.  But when we fall into that hole, in which we become self-serving, we find ourselves unable to find complete contentment.  On the other hand, when we free ourselves from focusing on ourselves, when we begin to show compassion to a wider and wider circle, we become more fulfilled.  There is no sight greater than seeing someone who has just gone to help someone.  Nor are there more inspiring people than those who give of themselves and their time to show compassion.  When one sees love in another’s eyes, we can not help but be moved to love more ourselves as well.
It can be hard of us to think about our fellow creatures as rejoicing in God and being part of our family.  So often they can be seen as a nuisance, as something that must be removed from our houses and our yards, or as trophies to be placed on mantles, or merely an inconvenience as we search for oil and gas.  With our pesticides and mousetraps, with the way that we consume other creatures as food or we destroy their homes in search for energy, we decimate our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow creations of God.  We are all born out of the same dust and were created for one another, to be helpers and friends.  Our Genesis reading tells us of another connection between us and all creatures as well, as Adam gets to name each creature as it is created.  Much as a parent gets to name their child, so Adam has this connection to each creature, gets to be a part of the birthing process of each individual creation.
We can have a tendency to view of ourselves as vastly more important than our brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom.  After all, we are humans, created in the image of God, filled with intelligent thought and the ability to create vast cities.  Our comfort becomes our guiding force, our God, as we destroy the world around us in order to gain that comfort.  Yet since we are created in the Image of God, and we are set as co-creators with God, it seems that our priorities should shift a bit.  Instead of focusing on our own comforts and desires, maybe we need to take a more global view, past even that of what our fellow humans need, which we of course care greatly about and try to aid whenever we can, but also look at the world and creation and see ways that we can care for it better.  Perhaps we can widen our compassion towards all of creation, as Einstein tells us to do.
After all, If we are in fact followers of God, then should we not care for His creation as He does?  Just as God gives food and shelter to the wild animals, to all creeping things and birds of the air, and creatures of the sea, should we not strive to make sure that they get that food and that shelter, instead of taking them away in order to put money in our pockets or to get to resources, like gas and oil?  George Bernard Shaw once said “The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity.”  This is not a sin just against our brothers and sisters of this world, but it is a sin against God, for we not only damage his creation but show an indifference to it when we proclaim that we need not worry about some animals getting in the way of our progress or fail to give their lives the respect that they so rightly deserve as children of God.
We have an amazing blessing and opportunity from God, which is the world around us.  In it we can see the many wonders of God, from the ways that the insects help pollinate the flowers and the trees that give our eyes beauty to see and our bellies food to eat, to the way that birds fly together through the sky, to work together to migrate to new places each year, to the way that our pets teach us how to love more completely and honestly than many humans could ever possible even imagine.  So may we rejoice alongside our brothers and sisters throughout creation, rejoicing both for the love and care of our Creator as well as the fulfillment we may find in living together. 

Amen.    

 
            

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