“What is the holiest creature?” As we think about Holy Creatures this weekend, this question comes to mind. It almost sounds like a riddle, and so I began to wonder what the answer might be.
In Cincinnati this weekend, we might say it is the pig, since it has earned its wings and has become a flying pig. I hope to see you in Hyde Park Square as we host the Party Zone and we can see how well they fly. But, since flying pigs exist primarily in Cincinnati, it is good to keep searching for a more inclusive answer.
A praying mantis comes to mind since it always looks like it is praying. More research, however, indicates that it is far more focused on its prey than on talking with God and lifting up the needs of the world.
A donkey might be more fitting since it has short legs and traditionally represents humility, patience, and serving the poor. The donkey has also had a place in the Christmas and Palm Sunday stories.
Even more present throughout scripture, however, is the lamb. The lamb is referred to many times in the Old Testament and is at the center of the Passover observance. Jesus is then referred to as the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world. God and Jesus have both been described as a good shepherd as well.
Sheep do represent a lot of the qualities that make animals special to us. They provide for us in many ways through their wool and meat. We have depended on them even as they have depended on us. In that relationship, we have learned much about how we relate to God. We have learned so much, in fact, that the lamb and the shepherd have become spiritual and theological metaphors.
Both of our scriptures for this weekend, Job 12:1-10 and John 21:15-19 help us to think about faith using references to animals. Job encourages us to listen to the animals, for they will teach us about God. In John, Jesus instructs Peter, (and us) to feed his sheep (animals and people).
This weekend, I encourage you to pay attention to all of God’s creatures and the lessons about faith, hope, and love that God seeks to teach you through them.
Dorianne Laux in her poem, “Psalm,” encourages us to pay attention and to learn about resurrection from the smallest of creatures.
“Lord, there are creatures in the understory,
snails with whorled backs and silver boots,
trails beetles weave in grass, black rivers
of ants, unbound ladybugs opening their wings,
spotted veils and flame, untamed choirs
of banjo-colored crickets and stained-glass cicadas.
Lord, how shall we count the snakes and frogs
and moths? How shall we love the hidden
and small?”
Blessings!
Pastor Suzanne