We Are Different - Not Like the Animals

This morning as the sun rose and my little dog snoozed in my lap, I mused thus:

We are different – not like the animals. We need spiritual nurturing to continue on earth. We have our differences which must be fed. I mean our different kinds of needs for our different callings. We can’t be the things that make us who we are without feeding those things in us consistently. Animals are what they are and behave as they behave regardless where or who or what or why or how. Jeffy is just a dog and will always act like one.

I, on the other hand, can be a devoted mother, wife, friend, singer, secretary, wharehouse worker, artist, seamstress, writer, choir director, bell ringer – or all of the above, in any arrangement I choose. But these things must be nurtured in my for me to be any of them. Otherwise, I’m just a human animal, ingesting what human animals ingest, secreting what human animals secrete, and multiplying myself.

But God called us out of the muck to be far more than mere human animals. He gave us royal gifts of intelligence, creativity, compassion, self-sacrifice…. And the fruits of the Spirit. He gave us a way to Himself even, and showed us how to walk therein. He gave us the key to being more than just animals, and He expects us to utilize it. He made us humans His sons and daughters and invited us to create in our space in the same way He has created in His.

But as a race we have rejected His calling, His gifts, His invitation. We have turned every one to our own way. We have chosen to be gods of ourselves – self managers. We have said to our Maker, “We don’t need a Maker, we can make ourselves, thank you.” We have said, “We don’t need a Father, fathers are bad. Mothers are good, we’ll worship our mother, the earth.” We have turned to our own way and royally spoiled our space and our race.

And our Father has let us. Oh, how I wish He would stop us! But that’s not His way. His way is Love.

He loves the creatures He made like animals and then glorified and lifted from out of our animalistic behaviors to live in light with Him. He knows we must exercise our wills or cease to be human. So He lets us, in spite of our disastrous choices. One day He will put an end to our messing up His art work. But for now He is keeping silent, though we rail and beg and plead desperately for Him to stop us.

He will wait for His perfect time. He will stick with His perfect Plan. His ways are not our ways. He knows how to stay on the course He charted, even without a compass. He is able to keep from sullying His space, even when we change it with our pollution. He knows how to keep giving when we’ve spit in His face and sent His gifts back.

He has written into nature His perfect Love, in the gift of Spring renewed each year just to remind us we don’t have the final word on anything, and death isn’t the final word on Life.

Hallelujah!

Praise the Savior, ye who know Him!
Who can tell how much we owe Him?
Gladly let us render to Him
All we are and have.

Jesus is the name that charms us.
He for conflict fits and arms us.
Nothing moves and nothing harms us,
While we trust in Him.

Trust in Him, ye saints, forever!
He is faithful, changing never:
Neither force nor guile can sever
Those He loves from Him.

Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
To Thyself and still believing,
Till the hour of our receiving
Promised joys with Thee.

Then we shall be where we would be,
Then we shall be what we should be,
Things that are not now, nor could be,
Soon shall be our own.

Thos. Kelly
German
#144 Inspiring Hymns