When I was younger I struggled with my “faith”.  I knew God existed, but I did not know anything about Him.  How to pray, how to reach Him, if He heard me…  One thing I did know, was animals were sacred.  It has always been in my heart.  Never has it been a question in my mind.  I saw the land as sacred too.  I believed in a Lakota faith and it made perfect sense to me, that everything God had made, was His, and sacred by no other means than the fact it was made by God and belonged to Him.  I never saw the earth or the animals within it as things that “belonged” to us as humans.  I still do not.  Although my faith has changed, I have accepted Christ and believe other things, some of the values of my earlier beliefs I have not forgotten.  I still believe they hold great value and pertain to Christianity.  I always thought that it didn’t matter what language it was in, if it held a reverence for our Creator and the things He created, what difference does it make?

Now that I am in a place of strong faith in Christ, I am doing more and more to learn about Christ.  Because for one, the moment you stop learning, is the moment you stop living.  We are called to grow every day in our faith… translated, that means we are called to continually LEARN.  And what better teachers of God, than his humble animals?  And the more I learn, the more I search, the more surprised I am about what God DOES have to say about Animals, if only we have the eyes and heart to see!!!  He uses them to teach us, help us, befriend us, love us.  But so many Christians fail to see this piece of Gods plan!  I am at a point where the exhausting argument of whether or not they have souls is just that, a foolish and exhausting argument.   It should be no more of an argument to a Christian than Adam and Eve, or the parting of the Red Sea, or any other plainly printed story in the Bible.  Anything God created He said was “Good”, and was created to be eternal in the Garden.  We screwed up, God doesn’t change his mind.  They were eternal then, they are eternal now.  Period, end of discussion and that is not what this paper is about.  However if you are a Christian, who does not believe they have value to our Creator, you are missing out on so much information about our Creator and the vastness of His love. 

Animals have always been my teachers, in just about every subject.  I relate to them much more closely than to people.  They are how I make a living.  They are my constant companions.  They know my secrets, have helped me to laugh and allowed me to cry.  They have taught me how to trust and how to love.  But most importantly they have taught me a lot about God.  God has used animals as a constant reminder to me of Him and His love.  When I could not love Him, I loved my animals.  When I could not love other people, I loved my animals.  When I could not feel Gods love, or the love of others, I could feel my animals love for me. Not all angels have wings, some have fur.  Love is not a man made creation. It is made by God and it is through Him we are capable of love and it is through the pure selfless love of an animal, that we can see a shining example of Gods pure love. It is because God loves all his creation we, here on earth animal and man alike, are able to love one another in the first place. 

There is a stillness in the eyes of the beasts… I can only recognize it as ancient wisdom. A knowledge we, as humans will never posses. It lures me in, and beckons me to become a part of that world but there is a wall I am unable to cross. Job 12:7-10 says “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”  That sounds an awful lot like some things I have heard from Native American elders when they speak about learning about God through His creation…   Is this the ancient wisdom? A quiet reverence for God? A peace of inherent knowing that He is there? Or is it a greater knowledge, beyond a quiet peace? Is it a faith in all that was, is and will be? Do they know, at their heart, more than we?  What is it that they know? 

I think animals can see God.  Visibly.  I also think they can hear Him, audibly.  I believe they can be called to action, just as we can.  I don’t see that God using an animal for His will is that farfetched.  He uses people every day to teach others about Him, to help others, to love others.  But what if these people were like me?  And did not have the ears to hear?  Would God not send love in another way? 

I think so many times we forget we were put here to be stewards to the land and the animals.  What does that mean?  It means to care for as if they were your own.  I do not own my animals.  As far as our man made world full of lawyers and such, sure I do on paper.  But in the grand scheme of things, in life and death, I no more own them than the Sun and Moon.  They belong to God.  Wow!  Let me say that one more time.  They belong to God.  And it is my job to do the best by them I can while they are in my care.   I feel bad if someone loans me a book and a page gets bent.  What will God say about the shape of His dog’s soul when he goes home?  How will you feel when you have to give it back?  Are the pages battered and torn, the binding coming off, the message inside gone from water stains?  Or is it, older, yes, but well kept, beautiful and the message inside still beautiful and clearly written?  When you give your dog back, was he fearful, beaten, scared, cold, lonely, abandoned,  and the message of his kind soul never heard because “ he’s just a damn dog”… Or is he happy, loved, content, confident, peaceful, and fulfilled his purpose in bringing joy and love and compassion into your heart by way of his message inside, sent by God?

What about our planet?  So often we think, we as humans can do with it as we please.  Hold up!  This is God’s Kingdom!!!  Not yet restored to His glory, but His none the less!  Would it not bode well in our favor to care for it as if our King was indeed coming home?  My mother furiously cleans the house for any kind of company.  Her home is generally, what most would consider spotless, in the first place.  Company comes over and break out the mops and dusters!  We know our King is coming back, yes?  Should we not have a clean house prepared?  Would it kill you to recycle every now and then?  Maybe conserve some water?  Save the National Parks?  Maybe my logic is off, but it makes sense to me.

Coming back to the subject as animals as teachers, I am currently reading a year long devotional called Paws to Reflect, by Devon O’Day and Kim McLean.  A daily devotional for animal lovers it highlights stories about how we can indeed learn from animals about God.  One of my favorite quotes so far is this; “Maybe it’s not such an outlandish question after all, to wonder if the animals catch glimpses of God.  They certainly seem to be full of gratitude.  Ever watch your dog, or cat, or horse take in the sunrise?  We are wise to recognize that they, too, are part of God’s divine plan.”  I know I catch my dog all the time, in the back yard, sitting with nose to the sky, not sniffing, but with eyes closed, just taking in the sun… just like I do, when the sun just feels good on your face and you are quietly thankful for the day.  Every morning the horses play as if rejoicing in a new day…  Is it so farfetched?

I often wonder too if this ancient wisdom comes from a memory.  In the garden, animals did not fear Adam and Eve.  And I am lead to believe that communication was efficient between the two.  Many people swear their animals speak to them, I am one of those people.  Does my dog speak English?  No, of course not although I think she does understand it pretty well.  Does she communicate with me?  Easily, yes.  And so do the horses the closer we become.  Some call it an “understanding”.  Some say a good rider can hear her horse speak but a great rider can hear her horse whisper.  So many times they understand us on a level that is almost incomprehensible to us.  It is also not uncommon for people to say, all animals speak, but few people listen.  These sayings and testimonials do not come out of nowhere from delusional psychiatric patients.  No they come from every day people who build and undeniable bond with the animal God has entrusted in their care.  There are therapy dogs for PTSD that literally know when their owner is going to have a bad dream, before it happens and will wake them… Before their heart rate rises, before chemical reactions in the brain, before restless fits.  Amazing.  How dare people call them stupid, unfeeling or dumb.

I also think it is interesting, and this may not be popular but I think it is note worthy.  I feel animals and people could speak, perhaps more “telepathically” than vocal in the Garden.  As we know, they do not have the anatomy for speech, but we do know they could communicate.  Want to know how I know that?  Eve.  How many women do you know, or men for that matter, would hear a talking snake and not scream and run the other way based purely on the FACT that it was speaking??!!  Eve thought not only was it totally normal to stop and have a conversation with the serpent, but there had to have been a mutual trust she had in animals, to eat of the fruit.  You cannot be betrayed by something you already do not trust.  You can, by something you do. 

Have we lost the ability to speak, or more importantly listen to animals?  Not completely.  What we have lost is the desire to speak with them.  For centuries animals have been viewed as “nothings”.  But I believe the desire is steadily coming back.  With a new thought process sweeping the animal world, more and more people are looking for better ways of working with their animals, empathy and compassion being of foremost importance.  They are beginning to see them not just as tools but as living, breathing beings with feelings.  They are using homeopathic medicines, dog/equine psychology, and the continuous learning about species, massage, chiropractic, and there are some who are beginning to welcome the idea of animal communicators.  I have used all of these.  Now as with anything people can be fooled easily.  I have heard communicators, who are, to put it nicely, full of it.  However I have developed a report with a woman named Carol who is an equine communicator, who is stunning in her work.  She does her “readings” based on emotion and energy.  Some horses never speak, many do.  And what they have to say is usually very emotional, spiritual and with a gratitude that they had been heard.  All have said, they know the purpose they hold in their human’s life, a divine purpose.  She never knows anything about the horses when she comes, very little about the people, but she reads into deep, and sometimes dark places into the persons past or present, through their equine partner.  It is simply beautiful.  No one has ever come out of it worse, always better.  I believe she has honed her skills of listening.  I do not believe it is anything more than that.  I believe we have the ability, but few try.  “Some people talk to animals.  Not many listen though.  That is the problem.”

In today’s fast paces society it is not surprising to me that we do not have the time, much less the understanding of how to quiet ourselves enough to listen.  In Numbers 22, starting verse 21 is the story of Balaam’s Donkey.  To paraphrase, he is riding his donkey and in the road, 3 times she sees an angel that will surely kill her rider.  She veers away and all three times he beats her.  When there was no room to veer away from the angel, she lied down and he beat her and the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth for her to speak!  The donkey asked why he had beaten her and he said, he was ready to kill her had he had a sword.  She countered and said “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day?  Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”  Of course he said “no”, and then the Lord opened his eyes to see the angel.   Numbers 22:32-33 “The angel of the Lord asked, “ Why have you beaten your donkey these three times?  I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times.  If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.”

Has an animal ever warned you of danger that you have not heeded?  I know mine have.  Boy had I wish I’d listened.  How could this lowly donkey see the angel when he, a human could not?  Does this not prove my point, that they see God?  If she was not of value to God, why would He have opened her mouth to speak and the angel spare her?  If she was not loyal to her master, would she have not allowed the angel to kill him?  If he had listened to his donkey would he have gone home and not gone against Gods will?  Animals can “read” the earth faster. They know when natural disasters are coming, they know when to migrate and they know where to travel to without ever having been there themselves.  There are countless stories of animals saving people from disaster, suicide, mental and physical illness.  Is this not the work of God through his animal angels?   I truly think, they live half in the physical world, and half in the spiritual. They need not seek the spirit like we do. They live it, understand it, accept it, see it, and find peace in it. It is in the spiritual that God speaks to them, in a way we do not get to know. It is there they hear His voice. If they can do these things, weather it is God or themselves, are they not great teachers? Is there not something of value to be learned here? Wouldn’t you want to listen?

Another unpopular thought about my compassion toward animals is the misunderstanding that I put them above people.  True I feel more comfortable with them and connect with them easier.  To me it’s not about putting one above the other.  It is about a compassion for all.  God knows when a sparrow falls, He knows us as well.  If the sparrow AND mankind is of value to God, should they all not be of value to us?  Some people say, why work to save animals when we have starving people?  Well, because no matter how long you live or work, you will not end world hunger.  That does not mean, to not save the ones you can… But do that… save the ones you CAN, man and animal.  I have a hard time seeing Jesus walking down the road and seeing a hit by car cat and not stopping to help it and instead blowing it off and saying “Sorry, I can’t help you today cause there are children in Africa I have not saved yet.”  Of course he would help the suffering animal.   It does not mean he stops helping and loving people… Love is endless.  Why limit yourself, why try and limit your God?  Everyone is called to do something different.  Why would it be such a horrible thing to be called to help animals?  The animals nailed to the operating tables in labs, fully conscious with vocal cords cut out so they cannot hear their screams while they dissect the live animal, are no more abandoned by God than the woman being raped and stoned.  If we are to be as Christ like as we can, should we not care about them both?  Should not our goals be to have compassion and empathy for all living things?

I feel it is my job as a steward of Gods creation to love and care for it, to the best of my ability.  To never deal in harshness or cruelty to anything or anyone in it.  The animals in my life make it worth living.  The joy they bring, the quiet they share.  I am more patient, humble, compassionate, empathetic, and happy.  I often wonder how we would treat each other and our animals if we could actually see Christ?  Would you have said those words or thrown that punch if He was standing in the corner?  Would you have jerked the dogs lead or bloodied that horses’ side?  Probably not, maybe I suppose, but probably not.  And yet we know God is always with us.  He sees our actions.  But how quickly we forget His presence, yes?  It is a life long struggle, but I challenge myself every time I step into the round pen with the old What Would Jesus Do?  Such a simple concept… but so hard to remember.  Would you not want to seek the same?  Would you not want to please your God by loving His creation?  And handling it as though you did?  “I care not for a man’s religion who’s dog and cat are not the better for it.” Abraham Lincoln.