all creatures great and small the lord god

On the sixth day God created both animals and humanity. We are challenged to follow the footsteps of our Lord into the wilderness where the wild things are.įrom the very beginning to the very end of the scriptures it is clear the animals have a large part to play in the story of salvation.Ĭase in point #1: Genesis, Chapter 1, The Creation.

We are challenged to learn of them and from them as we shape our lives together under the rule of God. Equally important for people of faith, there is a strong biblical warrant for recognizing our kinship with the animals. But these things we are learning from the secular world, and from scientific discover. We are aware that a civilization which allows many wild beasts to enter into extinction may prove equally wasteful of human life. We are aware of our participation in a single, ecological system. Whether we are at the beginning, the middle or the very end of our terrestrial safari, we might all of us learn a thing or two from our Lord's experience with those wild animals, those birds of the air, those beasts of the field, those creatures real or fantastic that he encountered in the wilderness of Judea.Ĭlearly ours is an age of ecological consciousness, when we are increasingly concerned with the survival of many endangered species. Shortly after his baptism, at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus was driven out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan and there, according to the Scriptures, 'he was with the wild beasts.' Now what do you suppose Jesus was doing with those wild beasts? As we confront the wild and wooly events of our world, as we face up to all the strange and bewildering things that make our society sometimes seem like a jungle, it might profit us to consider what lessons lurk behind this suggestive phrase from St.

All creatures great and small the lord god