Praying For Pets - Part Two

       My cat is dying.  Puck is 17 years old.  We brought him home when he was 8.  I adopted him from a friend who simply didn’t want him anymore and I was afraid of what might have happened to him if I didn’t take him.  I didn’t want to him be left in a shelter.  It was, sadly, the end of the friendship because I couldn’t understand how anyone could be so genuinely happy to “get rid of him,” like a broken old bookcase that cluttered the basement.  No harsh words were spoken; there was no “break,” I just found myself less interested in spending time with her.

Puck when we first brought him home

      Puck is a great cat.  He is cuddly and affectionate and purrs a lot.  I like to think that he is as happy that he came to live with us as we are to have him.  He knows how to stand his ground, though. When we brought home our 50-pound dog (also 8 at the time we brought him home), Puck wasted no time in telling Patrick (the dog) who was boss.  Patrick, who had cat siblings in a previous home, understood this going in, and we’ve had no trouble.  Last year, a neighbor’s dog wandered into our weekend place when we left a door open.  That dog is probably 60 pounds, young, and full of energy (and as sweet as he can be).  Puck followed him around the house meowing, cornered him, and smacked him a couple of times.  The poor dog fled the house and has not even ventured into our yard again (which we are sorry about).  Puck is also very jealous.  If you are paying attention to Jasmine (our other cat) or Patrick or electronics or reading material of any kind, Puck will be sure to head butt his way into the action, making sure that he is the center of attention.  Then he purrs.

Puck enjoys some lap time

      The day before Thanksgiving, Puck was diagnosed with large cell granular lymphoma. He was yellow with jaundice and his liver was severely compromised. The prognosis was bleak indeed, and we were told that without treatment, he might live 2-4 weeks; with treatment, maybe 4-8 weeks.  We wrestled with the options, but decided to try the first dose of the recommended treatment to see how he responded, then go from there.  I also reached out to many of my animal and theology friends and asked them to pray for Puck, and to pray that my husband and I would know how to make the right decisions for him.  We could not bring ourselves to think about celebrating Christmas, because we expected it would be a very sad time. 

 

       But Puck surprised us all, especially the vets. 

Animals, Advent, and the O Antiphons

There are at least two things I love to do in Advent.  One is to pray the O Antiphons, and the other is to visit at least one of venues near me that has an international nativity display.  The O Antiphons always help to ground me through the close of Advent.  They keep me focused on the true meaning of Christmas - the coming of Christ - through the hubbub of preparations and celebrations that, while wonderful and rewarding in their own ways, are nevertheless a distraction from the hope of the season.

The international nativity displays always fascinate me.  I love to see how different cultures around the world have interpreted the nativity story.  I especially love the ones that are set, not in the ancient middle east, but in the culture that created the nativity.  It reminds us, I think, that Christ came not just once, long ago, but comes to each of us every day, right where and as we are, if only we will let Him.  I love to see the different materials used, the different levels of detail included, the differing degrees of reverence and whimsy, and - of course - the different animals that show up in the manger!  Christ is the savior of the world, near and far, with all its creatures.  No one culture or species can make an exclusive claim on God's all-encompassing saving grace. 

This year, with the animals in mind, I posted daily reflections on the O Antiphons on the Dominion In The Image of God Facebook Page.  I've collected them here and added some photos of nativity scenes from around the world.  Some of the nativity scenes are mine but most are from an exhibit at the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints near Washington, DC.  While Advent is over and the "official" time for praying the O Antiphons is over for this holiday season, it is still Christmas until January 6, and there is never a wrong time to remind ourselves of our need for God's saving mercy.

ANIMALS IN THE BOOK OF JONAH

“And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

                                      ~ Jonah 4:11

               I’ve been wanting to write about the Book of Jonah for some time now, and it is fitting that I am finally able to do so during the season of Lent.  Jonah’s story is deceptively simple, and with its action and adventure and animals and (some would say) fanciful elements, it is a favorite for teaching children.  Once we begin to dig into the story, however, we find that it is a profound story of faith, repentance, forgiveness, and the limitless nature of God’s love and care for all that He has made.  No wonder it is a staple of Jewish services on Yom Kipper, the Day of Atonement, perhaps the holiest day of the Jewish year. 

               Most of us remember the “whale” (which is never called a whale in scripture, but is identified in scripture as a “great fish”), but the Book of Jonah, not unlike the city of Nineveh, is filled with many animals.  (For brevity, this post assumes familiarity with the story.  The book is only four chapters long, however, and is worth re-reading. )  The great fish is provided by God to save Jonah; the fish returns Jonah to the dry land in faithful response to the word of God (in contrast to Jonah’s unfaithful response to God’s call); the animals in the city of Nineveh participate in the fast and wear sackcloth; they are called upon by the king to cry mightily to God and to turn from their ways; a worm follows God’s instructions to remove Jonah’s shady vine, and the animals of the city are expressly identified as creatures of God’s concern in the closing words of the book.              

               The story of Jonah is impossible without the animals.  They move the action; from scene to scene the animals are there, doing God’s work, crying out to the Lord, receiving His mercy.  They also underscore some of the central themes of the book, including faith, repentance, and the all-encompassing love of God.  They deserve, but rarely receive, our thoughtful attention.

REFLECTIONS ON THE CONFESSION OF SIN

God of all mercy,

We confess that we have sinned against you,

Opposing your will in our lives.

We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves,

And in the world you have created.

We repent of the evil that enslaves us,

The evil we have done,

And the evil done on our behalf.

Forgive, restore, and strengthen us

Through our Savior Jesus Christ,

That we may abide in your love

And serve only your will. 

Amen.

            I am coming across this confession of sin more frequently in worship lately.1  It caught my attention the very first time I said it because of the repentance for “evil done on our behalf,” which strikes me as a very apt description of our societal treatment of animals who are not our pets. If only, I find myself thinking, those saying the confession had the vaguest idea that there was anything to confess in regard to their diet, their wardrobe, or their entertainment.  This line continues to pull at me each time I see or hear this confession, but it seems to me there is a great deal more here that relates to animals worth reflecting on.

            “God of all mercy.”  Let’s start here.  This is the God to whom we pray when we say this confession.  We start that way because it is the very nature of confession to recognize that we are in need of mercy and forgiveness for a wrong done.  Can we ask for mercy if we are unwilling to show it to those in our power who have done no wrong?  

The Prodigal Son, Salvator Rosa

            “We have sinned against you.”  When we support or ignore mistreatment of God’s creatures, we sin not only against those creatures, but against the One who made them, cares for them, covenants with them, and entrusted them to our care.

ANGER MANAGEMENT & TRUE CONFESSIONS

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,

But only what is helpful for building up others according to their needs,

That it may benefit those who listen.

  

                              ~ Ephesians 4:29

            I’ll start right off with the confession:  I’ve been feeling a lot of anger lately.  Mostly it has to do with a ridiculous series of events related to my work involving (in my view) a serious injustice.  Of particular significance for this blog, my anger and lack of patience are spilling out of the workplace, and making me angry and impatient about things relating to animals and the lack of things I see and hear from the church relating to animals.  How can people continue to do X, I stomp about wondering, and why won’t the church speak up about Y?

            Now, my clients are excited that I am angry at work because they want me to fight for them.  But I worry about being, shall we say, too truthful about my views with the wrong people, with unhelpful repercussions.  Similarly, when I think about how to convince the church of the importance of engaging on the topics of animal suffering and how human responsibility for that suffering impacts us theologically, I worry these days about being a little too forthcoming; I forget that what seems utterly self-evident to me now never occurred to me at all until just a few years ago.  Unmanaged anger is almost never constructive, and usually hurts us more than the object of our fury.  

          

BUT WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THAT WAY

(AND ITS COROLLARY, WE’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE)

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
                                   Isaiah 43:19   

       Anyone who has ever been involved in church committees is familiar with the cry, “But we’ve always done it that way!”  Whether the topic is the order of service, the language of the prayers, the color of the carpet, or where the cups for coffee hour are stored, church folk are resistant to change.  Of course, this is not unique to church folk (try changing the menu for family holidays), but “the way things have always been” does seem to have a particularly strong pull in our places of worship. 

Dave Walker, Cartoon Church

Perhaps this should not be surprising, since – at least for many Christian traditions – worship is deeply tied with ritual, and when we come to our houses of worship, we want to feel welcome and secure and sure-footed, notwithstanding Anne Dillard’s excellent admonition that we should come prepared for anything, wearing crash helmets.[1]  Often we have treasured memories of walking down that carpet on our wedding day or with our newly-baptized infant; we remember how that one particular prayer got us through a difficult time and it comforts us to say it again every Sunday.[2]  In a rapidly changing world, we like to think that here, at least, we can rely on things to be as they have always been.  Introducing new practices is hard, can lead to conflict, and needs to be undertaken with care. 

            Introducing new ideas is even harder.  Introducing new ideas that ask people to change long-cherished practices is, perhaps, hardest of all.  For church leaders, balancing so many things and facing so many challenges (not least declining church membership), it might be too much to ask.  Even so:

SCRIPTURE AND PRAYER

"Be still and know that I am God."

     

                                Psalm 46:10 

       This week I wanted to share two posts from other sources and three links.  Both posts help to bring us back to our foundations as animal activists in faith communities.  For me, it is a time to take some necessary refreshment, and to return to the fundamentals.     

        The first link is to a post from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.  10 Biblical Truths About Animals, by Barrett Duke, provides an overview of basic scriptural teachings about animals. It is a good reminder that scripture has a great deal to say about our fellow creatures.  As animal activists in our faith communities, we must be firmly grounded in scripture and we must always be prepared to explain that we are not bringing a secular perspective into our faith, but are seeking to open the eyes of our communities to the place animals have always had in the Bible so that we can more fully live into what we say we believe.  

         The second link is a post from a few months ago at Still Harbor by Rev. Steven Bonsey.  The Activist As Contemplative reminds us of the importance of stillness before God.  "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) is both scripture and prayer and it is always an important idea for activists to remember to help us avoid and overcome the frustration and burn-out that can come from working for any kind of social change.  By simply being with God silence, we allow His presence to renew and refresh us and to remind us that not everything depends on us.  By trusting God and allowing Him to work through us on His schedule, we can accomplish so much more - both for our own faith and for the cause we all cherish so deeply.

        The third link is simply to the location where you can go to sign up to receive Humane Steward, if you don't already get it.  It is a monthly e-mail from the Humane Society of the United States Faith Outreach Department with links to various items of interest for those of us interested in animal welfare as a matter of faith.  This month, for example, it provides a link to the Barrett Duke article described above. 

       And now,  may "the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."  (From The Book of Common Prayer, another excellent resource for grounding and refreshment).  

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

FOOD IN PRAYER, PRACTICE, AND PLANNING

        

         As we plan for feasts this holiday season, here are three things to keep in mind:

 First, here is an article by Bruce Friedrich in Reflections, a publication of the Yale Divinity School: Toward A Divine Diet.  In it, Bruce (whom I've mentioned before), talks about faith and veganism.  He addresses the many impacts of eating animals, discusses food choice as a way of prayer, and suggests, "Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals -- as it was in the beginning and as it will be -- we can all begin to live God's peaceful vision for all of God's creation." 

    Second, and by way of contrast, here is Mark Bittman in the Washington Post with an article entitled "How A National Food Policy Could Save Millions Of American Lives," addressing the sorry state of our current national food policy, and the grievous implications that has on our health.  While he does not discuss food as a theological issue, what he has to say shows that we are reaping what we have sown in our disregard for our roles as stewards of God's animals, God's planet, and God's people. 

     And finally, here are some amazing-sounding cruelty-free holiday recipes from the Choose Veg blog, so we can all develop our own compassion-based diet in celebration of God's compassion toward us and all that He has made. 

      Eat plants, pray to God, love His creatures.  Amen.

Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals – as it was in the beginning and as it will be – we can all begin to live God’s peaceful vision for all of God’s creation. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpu

Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals – as it was in the beginning and as it will be – we can all begin to live God’s peaceful vision for all of God’s creation. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

A BLESSING FOR ST. FRANCIS DAY

“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men.” 

 

                                                       St. Francis of Assis

 

       This blessing is identified in some places as "a Franciscan blessing," but I don't know the origin of it.  Nevertheless, I think it is an important one for animals, and for the links between disregard of animals suffering and disregard of human suffering, a link St. Francis readily made.  (A link so clear now, in fact, that the FBI now recognizes animal cruelty as a Group A felony, just like homicide, arson, and assault.)   So, as you read the blessig below, think especially of the animals in factory farms, fur farms, laboratories, steel leg traps, hoarding situations, puppy mills, chained in yards, locked in basements, dodging bb shot, wounded by arrows from hunters, fenced in canned hunting grounds, and more.  Pray that the church, and all humans, will come to see all of these practices as the indefensible cruelty they are and we that we can all work together to make the world a kinder place for both humans and other animals.   

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,

so that you may live deep in your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of [any creature],

so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world,

so that you can do what other claim cannot be done.

Amen.

 

May God grant you a joyous and blessed St. Francis Day, filled with the joy of companionship - human and animal, and strengthen you to do His work for the animals in the days and years to come.  

Here is a link to my St. Francis Day post from last year, How To Be A Blessing To The Animals. 

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.

St. Francis Day: How To Be A Blessing To The Animals

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord"

                                          Psalm 150:6 

            If you have read the About Me section of this blog, you know that my journey toward understanding animal welfare as a theological concern began with an idea to include animals who really need a blessing – shelter pets in need of the blessing of a loving home – in a St. Francis Day Blessing of the Animals service.  To that end, I contacted the Washington National Cathedral and the Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL) and arranged just such an event.  (The event, that year and in all the years following has included animals from both the WARL and the Washington Humane Society, as well as representatives from both organizations and the Humane Society of the United States Faith Outreach Department.)  It seemed fitting, therefore, that as I begin this blog, I should mark St. Francis Day by presenting the remarks I made at that first blessing event, before I had any idea where this road would lead or how central this issue would become to me. 

            These remarks were in the year following Hurricane Katrina and present at the event were dogs WARL had rescued from that disaster.  The remarks also reference then-pending legislation.  While Katrina and some of those bills are in the past, there are always animals in need of rescue from natural or man-made disasters and there are always legislative issues requiring our attention.  The remarks, therefore, remain just as relevant today as they were when they were first made.

            Finally, by way of introducing these comments, I would like to observe that St. Francis has become quite tame and domesticated in our modern understanding.  We picture him surrounded by birds and bunnies, praising the sun and the moon.  This does him a great disservice.  St. Francis was a radical theologian, who walked away from a life of wealth and comfort to live in poverty and serve the unwanted – be they human or animal.  He calls us to a radical faith based in service and grounded in the understanding that all of creation belongs to and is loved by God.  St. Francis tells us that caring for the animals as God cares for us is not a part-time theology for the children and their pets – it is the way we are called to live every day.