THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Open our eyes, our hearts, our ears to the cries of all those whose distress we would ignore:

refugees and prisoners; victims of greed or fraud;

those injured by the abuse of power and privilege.

Give us, O God, the heart and the will for compassion and mercy.

We look to you in hope.

Come, Lord Jesus.  Come.

  

         This was one of the prayers at the Washington National Cathedral last Sunday.  It struck me that here, if only those who were praying knew it, was a prayer for the animals.  

• Refugees:  all the pets in animal shelters; abandoned, lost, they got "too big," they got "too old," their people died or moved and didn't take them, some of them very seriously abused.  All of them needing refuge, care, love - and waiting for a home of their own where they can live in peace with those they love.
• Prisoners:  all the animals in testing labs enduring lives of pain, fear, and loneliness; animals kept for "caged hunts," animals kept for fighting.
• Victims of greed or fraud: puppies in puppy mills; animals in roadside zoos and circuses; exotic animals on display; animals hunted to near extinction or raised on cruel "farms" so that parts of their bodies can be used for "medicine."
• Those injured by the abuse of power and privilege: all the animals we call food, especially those in factory farms; animals killed for their fur: baby seals clubbed to death, animals caught in steel leg traps, animals confined in fur farms; the victims of trophy hunters.

      And so many more.  

     Open our eyes, our hearts, our ears to the cries of all those whose distress we would ignore.  Give us, O God, the heart and the will for compassion and mercy.  We look to you in hope.  Come, Lord Jesus. Come.  

Detail of Nativity by Andrea Previtali

THE LEAST OF THESE

Matthew 25: 41- 44, 45

Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, 

For I was hungry and you gave me no food.

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing,

Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

. . . Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me."

May God give us ears to hear and eyes to see; and may God help us to do better.    


_________________________________________________________________
Photo credits: 
Horse: eXtensionHorses CC-BY-SA-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Puppy mill: public domain
Dog in the snow: Radu Sigheti/Reuters, TheStar.com
Battery caged chickens:  Maqi CC-BY-SA-3.0  via Wikimedia Commons
Pigs in gestation crates: Farm Sanctuary
Monkey in lab: public domain

REFLECTIONS ON THE LITURGY

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity:  Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

~ Collect of the Day, September 28, 2014

            It is sadly true that I often listen to the liturgy on a Sunday through the ears of our fellow creatures.  I listen to hear what our prayers, our hymns, and our sermons are teaching us about our relationships with animals. It is sad because it can be a source of distraction, annoyance, and impatience.  I hear the opportunities not taken for instruction, the unfortunate turns of phrase, and the prayers not said.  This is not the best path to worship.  It is, however, a predictable result when one is passionate about a subject that most clergy and worshippers don’t even think of as relevant to worship.  I try (some Sundays with greater success than others) to turn those feelings of dissatisfaction into motivation to do good, and to turn my attention back to the service.

            Some of the prayers and readings on Sunday, September 28, struck me as particularly instructive regarding why, if we will only pay attention to what we say we believe, we will come to understand our obligations of mercy and compassion toward our fellow creatures, and how there are so many opportunities to bring an awareness of those obligations to light in worship.  In this post, I want to take a look at the Episcopal liturgy for that day, to try to illustrate what I mean.

The Book of Common Prayer

HELLO? CHURCH? ARE YOU THERE?

“When we reflect upon the most shocking barbarities, and see the brutal rage exercised [against animals] by the most worthless of men, without controul of Law, and without reproof from the Pulpit, we are almost tempted to draw this inference, that Cruelty cannot be a sin.”

                                                                  ~ Humphrey Primatt

            Once again I have put my planned post into cold storage so that I can write about something in the news that I think requires people of faith to sit up and take notice.  It is a column by Frank Bruni that appeared in the New York Times on January 13 entitled According Animals Dignity.  It is a very encouraging piece discussing the ways we are slowly beginning to re-conceive our relationships with animals as we come to have a fuller understanding of how they interact with the world and how miserably some of them are treated.  As a culture, of course, we have a very long way to go, but as Bruni points out, there are encouraging signs of change.  As we come to this awakening, however, and as I read Bruni’s discussion of the signs and sources of change, I cannot help but wonder, again, where is the voice of the church?

            Bruni’s article begins by observing that the most e-mailed recent New York Times story was a story entitled “What Your Cat Is Thinking,” reviewing a book on the subject called Cat Sense (by the same author who recently wrote Dog Sense).  He goes on to discuss other articles and books regarding how animals think (including one called Dogs Are People, Too, which, of course, caught my eye because of this recent post) and the growing popular interest in the topic.

           

ST. ALBAN’S FORUM: CROSSING THE DIVIDE

“Shalom means that all human beings live together as siblings, at peace with one another, and with God and in right relationships with all of the rest of creation.”
                                                                      ~The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori 

This past Sunday, I was honored to be the guest speaker at the adult forum at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.  The Rev. Jim Quigley and I discussed why animals matter from a theological perspective, followed by Q&A from the audience.  Our conversation was broad ranging and the questions were insightful and thought-provoking.  I want to write today about some of my reflections coming out of that discussion, which seemed to me to highlight the many ways we can build bridges and make connections – both among and within species.  It brought to mind (stay with me here) the homily by Katharine Jefferts Schori at her installation ceremony as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2006.  In it, she talked about the Jewish concept of shalom, in which the whole world rests, together, in peace and harmony:  

Shalom means that all human beings live together as siblings, at peace with one another and with God, and in right relationship with all the rest of creation.  It is that vision of the lion lying down with the lamb and the small child playing over the den of the adder, where the specter of death no longer holds sway.  It is that vision to which Jesus points when he says, "today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."  To say "shalom" is to know our own place and to invite and affirm the place of the rest of creation, once more at home in God.

PRAYING FOR PETS

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

                                                             ~ Matthew 18:3

            In church this morning, I listened to a delightful presentation on the children’s worship service.  The speaker talked about some of the things that are different between that worship and worship in “the big church,” including the fact that in the children’s worship, “we probably pray for pets more often.”  This observation made me consider why we don’t pray for pets in “the big church.”  It’s a question that seemed worthy of a brief reflection, and a minor detour from my discussion of the image of God.  

            I think the reason we don’t pray for pets as adults in church is that it seems silly or trivial; it seems like a topic not worthy of God’s attention.  I would argue that nothing could be further from the truth.