By Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle
Those who choose to bring animals into our homes often find that our relationship to them is far different from any object we purchase. We may refer to them as our pets, but they can be so much more.
These animals have complex emotions and needs, challenging us to respond in caring and compassionate ways. They can respond not only to simple instructions, but also to our own emotions and needs. Our pets, the animals we bring into our homes, can quickly become valued members of our families. So important can these living, breathing, loving beings be, that their passing is deeply grieved.
The bond humans between humans and animals can be profound. Can we even imagine a world without these loving relationships? Truly these animals are gifts from God connecting us beyond humanity into the wonder of Creation itself.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now (Rom 8:22)
For all the moments we care for, snuggle and play with beloved animals, there remains a tendency to treat the rest of creation as objects meant to serve our whims and needs. Most humans don’t generally have the same compassionate, reciprocal relationship with farm animals, zoo animals, or wild animals. Caring deeply about these creatures might cause significant internal conflict when we learn about the ways animals are exploited, mistreated, and sacrificed in the name of human need and progress.
Can we fathom what might happen if we felt a parallel grief each time an animal was slaughtered for our food, or we saw an animal dead on the roadside? What might happen if humans cared deeply about the animals misplaced when forests are cut down for new housing, shopping centres, roadways, and parking lots? How could we rest at night knowing there are species of animals going extinct because of human behaviour?
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now (Rom. 8:22)
What if God’s design in Creation intended for humanity to have reciprocal relationships not only with the animals we bring into our families but with all of Creation? What if Creation was never meant to be treated as objects for human use but rather companions on the journey? What if we are meant to pay closer attention to the world around us as holding wisdom from which we can learn and become better human beings?
We are learning. Science has revealed that there is wisdom in trees. Trees have the capacity to communicate through networks in the soil. They can collectively decide when to fruit, have tools to protect themselves against those aspects that would cause harm, and can support each other even after a tree has been felled and only a stump remains.
We are learning. Those who keep bees have discovered incredible wisdom among them. The ways in which bees collaborate and deliberate when moving the hive could provide profound insights into a new kind of democracy. The way worker bees are known to care for one another in extraordinary circumstances offers an important example of what it can truly mean to love our neighbour.
We are learning. As we worry about the fate of Monarch butterflies, we have discovered that they need milkweed plants to survive, something humans have been aggressively destroying. We are learning that we need to acknowledge and protect these relationships if we want species and Creation to thrive.
The theme of this year’s Season of Creation is “To hope and act with Creation”. This time calls us to be truly mindful of the wisdom of Creation and our invitation to engage in reciprocal relationships with all that God has given us in Creation. We can learn. We can do better. We can be better when we cherish not only the animals we bring into our homes, but all of God’s Creation.
As we celebrate the Season of Creation this year from Sept. 1st through Oct. 4th may we hope and act with Creation, seeing all that God has created as our siblings, ever connected to us in profound and meaningful ways. May we cherish God’s gifts and change our relationships to all of Creation. May we seek to safeguard the integrity of God’s Creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.
Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle is a co-chair of Socila and Ecological Justice Huron.