All Creatures Great And Small

All creatures great and small 7.16.23 Kristen Lowe

God created the mule and told him: "You will be mule, working constantly from dusk to dawn, carrying heavy loads on your back. You will eat grass and you will lack intelligence. You will live for 50 years." The mule answered: "To live like this for 50 years is too much. Please, give me no more than 20."

And it was so.

Then God created the dog and told him: "You will hold vigilance over the dwellings of Man, to whom you will be his greatest companion. You will eat his table scraps and live for 25 years." And the dog responded: "Lord, to live 25 years as a dog is too much. Please, no more than 10 years."

And it was so.

God then created the monkey and told him: "You are the monkey. You will swing from tree to tree, acting like an idiot. You will be funny, and you shall live for 20 years." And the monkey responded: Lord, to live 20 years as the clown of the world is too much. Please, Lord, give me no more than 10 years."

And it was so.

Finally, God created Man and told him: "You are Man, the only rational being that walks the earth. You will use your intelligence to have mastery over the creatures of the world. You will dominate the earth and live for 20 years." And the man responded: "Lord, to be Man for only 20 years is too little. Please, Lord, give me the 30 years the mule refused, the 15 years the dog refused, and the 10 years the monkey rejected."

And it was so.

And God made Man to live 20 years as a man, then marry and live 30 years like a mule working and carrying heavy loads on his back. Then , he is to have children and live 15 years as a dog, guarding his house and eating leftovers after they empty the pantry, then, in his old age, to live 10 years as a monkey, acting like a fool to amuse his grandchildren.

And it was so.

James Harriott, an english country veterinarian, wrote a book in the 70s called “all creatures great and small.” he then wrote a succession of books based on the other lines in the song. it was a curious and unique look into the english countryside, and the relationship people had with their animals.

In the beginning, we are told that god created the world in 6 days and on the 7th day he rested. Christians acknowledge creation care as an act of discipleship; we are stewards of the earth, summoned by God to work it and take care of it. Our uses of the earth must be designed to conserve and renew it rather than to deplete or destroy it. It’s easy to forget that God created all living things and then put us at the center of the garden to tend it… to care for all living things. Several interpretations say that we should, “subdue it,” or “have dominion over,” or even “take charge of.” The literal interpretation is more like to be stewards of.

This Sunday, I want us to stop and ponder the miracle of life… of God’s amazing creation… That the God who created the infinite galaxy with all it’s planets and stars, makes every single snowflake unique. The God who created the vast sand beaches of the world also made the tiny petal on a white clover. The God who has been at the beginning of all things and has seen millions of people throughout the centuries live and die, is infinitely interested in what you are thinking right now and cares deeply about how you feel. This God… who warned about sin entering the world if we used our free will inappropriately, also did the unfathomable by transforming himself into a human being… feeling and suffering all the things we do, even at the risk of being hated by those he loved, just to suffer and die… to break the power of sin and death.

When I was a young adult, I struggled with a question that I couldn’t find the answer to. One of my beloved pets died. And I was devastated. My heart was in pieces. I asked my friend, a well-studied Southern Baptist if pets had an afterlife. His answer was, “No. God created man in his image. Therefore, animals do not poses an eternal soul.” That answer didn’t sit well with me because the connection I had with my pet didn’t support that she was simply flesh and bone. So, I asked a Catholic priest friend who shared with me a recent quote from the pope who had comforted a little boy by telling him, “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures,”