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Copyright (c) 2012 Soul Windows Ministries
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Elephants Who Remember | |
Perhaps the elephants were walking a spiritual path. It can be said that the qualities of being on a spiritual journey are compassion, mercy, and an awakened awareness of the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all living things. Although we will never really know for sure, we can wonder if the elephants knew that their friend who saved their lives, conservationist Lawrence Anthony, had died.
No one can explain why the two herds of wild South African elephants made the dirge march for 12 hours through the Zululand bush to Anthony's home shortly after he died. Formerly violent rogue elephants who had been traumatized, now calmed, loitered for two days, observers say, to bid goodbye to their beloved friend, and then made their way back into the Thula Thula Reserve.
"A good man died suddenly," says Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, PhD, "and from miles and miles away, two herds of elephants, sensing that they had lost a beloved human friend, moved in a solemn, almost 'funereal' procession to make a call on the bereaved family at the deceased man's home. If there ever were a time, when we can truly sense the wondrous 'interconnectedness of all beings,' it is when we reflect on the elephants of Thula Thula. A man's heart stops, and hundreds of elephants' hearts are grieving. This man's oh-so-abundantly loving heart offered healing to those elephants, and now, they came to pay loving homage to their friend."*
Those who study animal behavior do tell us that grieving and mourning clearly show that nonhuman animals are socially aware of what is happening in their worlds. Maybe even more than humans. Perhaps the elephants were showing their respect and gratitude to the man known as the "elephant whisperer" who treated them with compassion, mercy, and an awakened awareness of the interconnectedness of all living things during his spiritual journey.
* http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2012/03/rescued-wild-elephant-herds-inexplicably-gather-to-mourn-lawrence-anthony-south-africas-elephant-whisperer.php#ixzz1wAlP3Ecr | |
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More than Market Value or Charm - by Bill
Behold the hippopotamus!
We laugh at how he looks to us,
And yet in moments dank and grim,
I wonder how we look to him.
-- Ogden Nash
Hippos get no respect. With their naked skin oozing a red secretion, some folks find them repulsive. Even a sober encyclopedia article says, "The hippopotamus is recognizable by its barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size." Not exactly glamorous! Throw in some massive wrinkles, on a skin so thick that it alone can weigh half a ton - well, it's not a pretty picture. As you may know, a group of lions is called "a pride of lions." Do you know what a group of hippos is called? A "bloat."
"Behold the hippopotamus!" Ogden Nash may not have been the first poet to use that line. "Look at Behemoth," God says to Job, "whom I made just as I made you.... It is the first of the great acts of God" (Job 40:15, 19 - NRSV). Many believe Behemoth to be the lowly hippo, but the poetry of Job suggests it is not so lowly in the eyes of God.
Reflecting on this passage, Calvin B. DeWitt, Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, writes, "The value and worth of God's creatures does not come from their usefulness, market value, or charm." Instead, scripture's praise of the hippo suggests "the worth of creatures is not so much in the eye of the human observer as in the eye of the [divine] Beholder."
As with any of God's creations, our question should not be "How can I market it?" or "How can I get it out of my way?" Instead, let's respond with wonder to the hippo's marvelous strength and skills, as the poet of Job does, and ask instead, "How should I, in relating to this beast, honor its Creator?"*
* "Behold the Hippo," Christian Century, April 18, 2012, 30-33
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