Tag: God with us

Authentic Faith, Choosing What to Publish, Jesus, The Love of God, Writing the Truth in Love

God’s Love Present in Our World

by  • 7 Comments

Reposting this timeless piece first published 9 years ago:

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (I John 4:7)

As a publisher, I seek books that demonstrate the love of God … stories ever fresh, personal and creative … stories of a love that has power to change lives and change history. Many Cladach books tell of lives changed by this love.

  • In Come, Stay, Celebrate! we read of John and Judith Galblum Pex loving people in Israel—all kinds of people—into the kingdom of God and his Son.

  • In On Kitten Creek, we read how God came into the midst of a people devoted to him in a place consecrated to him, and he worked in unexpected ways to make his love tangible.

  • In Journeys to Mother Love we read how love and forgiveness can overcome and heal the wounds and conflicts in mother-child relationships.

  • In All We Like Sheep, we read how God used flocks of sheep to teach two shepherdesses about his shepherd-heart of love.

  • In Remembering Softly, we read poetic expressions of moments when God’s love seeped, rushed, jolted, flashed, and poured into a searching heart.

  • In Creation of Calm, we read how God’s love transformed pain and loss into beautiful art that brings calm to others caught in life’s storms.

  • In Hostage In Taipei, we read a true, extreme account of God’s love working through believers literally caught in the crossfire, eventually overcoming violence and hate.

  • In Face to Face, we read of Love personified who, unlike everyone else, looked at a woman broken and spiritually oppressed, saw her heart, and released her with his words of love.

Photo credit: Canstock Photo/ © paktaotik
Experiencing Community, Living Simply, Memoirs, Nature Writings, Offering HOPE

A Tale of Two Creeks

by  • 4 Comments

(I first wrote and published this post 7 years ago. But the subjects treated here provide needed reminders in these troubled times.)

The two creeks I have in mind don’t surge or produce whitewater. In fact, much of the year, they trickle…through prairie and grassland, over rises and around bends…ever moving, ever adjusting, fed by waters originating in the heights of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, bringing life and sustenance to more remote, insignificant places.

Neither of these creeks flows through prime real estate attracting big-name land speculators and developers. Yet each has a story to tell of life and death, and of refuge seekers. Each has reflected the faces of generations as they laughed and cried, worked and prayed. And each of these creeks has received the blood, sweat, and tears shed there.

What stories these creeks could—and do—tell:  of community…of clashing and contrasting worldviews, lifestyles, and civilizations…of promises and lies, of seeking and finding, of celebrating and mourning.

Big Sandy Creek is noted for being the location of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 in southeastern Colorado. These days, long stretches of this creek appear dry on the surface, but water still flows underground. (A good reminder to us that some things may seem lost or forgotten, but their presence and effects still linger.) John Buzzard’s novel, That Day by the Creek, portrays the hopes and dreams, clashes and conflicts that culminated in the Sand Creek Massacre. There, the tragic, wrongful deaths of a remnant of oppressed human beings surely caused the life-giving Spirit of God to weep. One can imagine that God’s tears mingled with Cheyenne and Arapaho blood flowing into the shores and waters of Sand Creek.

Little Kitten Creek, which flows near Manhattan Kansas, is the namesake of the country road on which Nancy Swihart and her husband, Judd, settled and founded a life-affirming, loving community. Nancy’s memoir, On Kitten Creek, paints the picture of their migration from L.A. “in search of the sacred” in their daily lives, guided by the desire to live simply and Christ-centered. They creatively consecrated and used the land, the farm animals, and the buildings, including a big barn that hosted concerts, conferences and a dramatized Nativity. There, on what had been a dilapidated old farm straddling Kitten Creek, life-giving waters have flowed from the Spirit of God and touched thousands of lives through the years.

A tale of two creeks, two stories of the land, the people, the times—reminding us that God is with us, working in seen and unseen ways to bring good out of rocks and ruins.

Even though the Waters of Life seem at times to flow only in a trickle, or hidden underground, they will never stop until the day finally comes when all things are made new.

 

Photo by Nashwan guherzi on Pexels.com

God and Creation, Nature Writings, Nurturing Wonder, Prayer

A Summer Path of Devotion

by  • 2 Comments

When all our honeybees died one winter, my husband and I decided our beekeeping days were over. The time had come to take out the hives in the corner flower garden and use the extra space to add a foot path through flowers, grasses, and shrubs. During the summer months, this simple, curving garden path became my early morning prayer walk.

In the cool of the day, I stand and gaze at the flower faces glistening and opening petals to morning sun, and my heart opens to Creator God, the same one who walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. It seems God is still dwelling, revealing, and walking in gardens.

What I experience is an awareness that God is walking the path with me, helping me start each morning in fellowship with his ever-creative, self-giving, empowering presence.

After breakfast and coffee, and just before I step onto the path, I wait, in a moment of listening, for today’s focus of prayer. One day it is thankfulness. With each two steps I say (and mean) “Thank you” (stepping with left foot) “for family” (with right). Left always the same. Right includes: fresh new mornings, God’s mercies, colors of flowers, people to love and serve, a faithful dog staying close, gentle breezes giving relief from heat, hope continually rising.

Another day, loved ones come distinctly to mind, and I picture them each in their places, facing their particular challenges. With each two steps I intercede for individual family members and friends. I often feel a real sense of participating in God’s purposes, asking in his will, that God’s heart is hearing my heart as I seek to hear his.

One morning, as the first rays of the rising sun shimmered through translucent petals, leaves glowed and dew drops sparkled, my heart lifted in praise. I felt God’s smile through the newness and beauty of life around me. With each set of left-right steps (taken slowly, savoringly) I spoke the praise I felt for God’s beauty, mercy, constancy, and for the way he offers new possibilities amidst the unfolding of each day.

Some morning prayer walks have included confession, as well as release and surrender.

I miss having a garden beehive with its fresh honey; but we enjoy observing the wide variety of native pollinators that visit our garden flowers. It has also become a welcoming prayer garden where faith and hope are pollinated. And starting my day with a few moments of prayerful communion in nature, is as sweet as honey.

~Catherine

If you enjoyed this post, I think you’ll enjoy reading my books:

Write & Publish Organically: Dig Deep, Tend the Soil, Help Newness Emerge

Glimpsing Glory: Poems of Living & Dying, Praying & Playing, Belonging & Longing

Remembering Softly: A Life In Poems

~

Note: I am re-posting this meditation, a slightly edited version of the post that first appeared in 2019 at: Godspace and then here.

Art in Books, Author Guest Post, Book Illustrations, Cladach Authors, Creative Nonfiction, Healing & Wholeness, Memoirs, Offering HOPE, Perseverence, Relationships

“An Earthly Father Who Just Loves Me”

by  • 1 Comment

Fathering with faithfulness, courage and hope through pain and uncertainty.

A YOUNG FATHER’S BATTLE

(An excerpt from Mark Fraley‘s Sketchbook story, CREATION OF CALM):

 My body has been invaded.

“Dear God, comfort them! I can’t right now.”

“The hardest part… is not being able to pick up my son when he is close to tears.

My heavenly Father says, “I love you and I know it hurts. Put your faith in me.”

Moments together turn into hope, a hope that is reachable and lasting.

My children provide me with strength needed to move forward. I can forget my condition when they are with me.

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 MSG)

A lot of who I am today comes from who my dad has been for years. I thank the Lord for the gift of an earthly father who just loved me!

DING

An encouraging book for anyone facing trials and challenges.

Authentic Faith, Following Jesus, God and Creation, Jesus, Nature Writings

Me? Like a Sheep?

by  • 0 Comments

Lamb-2

I think I hear some of my readers commenting:

“Lambs are cute and woolly, and all that. But aren’t sheep ‘dumb’ and helpless creatures? I’m not sure I want to be like a sheep.”

In answer, I’ll offer a few tantalizing, biblical tidbits:

“I am the Good Shepherd.”

“My sheep hear my voice.”

“Like sheep without a shepherd”

“Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

“He leads me beside still waters.”

“We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray.”

“I lay down my life for the sheep.”

“Oh…. Well. When you put it that way … I’ll follow Jesus like a sheep if that’s what it takes to hear God’s voice and enjoy those green pastures and still waters. Of course I want to live the life he made possible by laying down his own. … But, what does that mean in real life? How does this sheep thing work?”

I’m glad you asked. God gave us this picture of sheep and pastures. However, it is hard for us to fathom such love and all the nuances of a lamb-like life of trust. So we look to the example of human shepherds. Those earthy, mucking-in-the-barn and traipsing-in-the-pastures, shepherds know sheep. They can tell us a lot about the woolly creatures the Bible says we are like.

“I’ll bet those shepherds could tell some stories! Even from Jesus’ parables, it sounds like sheep can get into a lot of trouble.”

In fact, I have two friends who are shepherds of sheep. Their names are Marilyn and Millie, two women who have raised thousands of lambs and tended flocks on their farms in Colorado. They have given names to many of their lambs and gotten to know their individual sheep quirks and personalities. They’ve nursed sick sheep, bottle-fed orphan lambs, called flocks in from the pasture, protected them from marauding dogs and hungry coyotes. They’ve laughed at sheep antics and cried over their losses and vulnerabilities.

“I’d like to meet those shepherdesses and visit the sheep farm, but I don’t suppose I ever will.”

Oh, you can! Vicariously! Just read Marilyn and Millie’s book of sheep stories in All We Like Sheep : Lessons from the Sheepfold. They’ll even help you better understand how to follow the Good Shepherd “like a sheep of his pasture.”

“Great! Where can I get this book of sheep stories?”

Glad you asked. Just click: https://cladach.com/all-we-like-sheep/

Remember, keep listening for the gentle voice of our trustworthy Shepherd.

Answering the Call of Christ, Authentic Faith, Creative Nonfiction, Experiencing Community, Following Jesus, God and Creation, God working in history, Offering HOPE

Together With God

by  • 1 Comment

In this poetic essay I engage with the idea that we need to get involved—with others—in what God is doing in our world. Will we listen to what the past and present are saying, so we can move together WITH our loving God now … stepping into the possibilities that call us to a renewed future?

WITH

When the angel said to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God”

and when Jesus said, speaking of the rich young man, “With God all things are possible”

did they mean that God would single-handedly make seemingly-impossible things happen?

Well, surely “with” means with. Possibilities are not actualities. But they can become so.

First, choices will be made . . . by God, by us. . . .

Choices matter in each

  • attraction or encounter.
  • touch or grasp.
  • reaction or response.
  • intersection or dead-end.
  • word spoken or thought silenced.

And, as in the case of Mary, life-giving choices and actions don’t happen alone but

WITH.

Whence comes this ability and necessity to choose, this invitation to respond and cooperate?

—From One who speaks potentiality, beauty, and creativity out of Love . . . connecting us as persons, relating us to all of nature, to every part of ourselves, and to God (through Christ who gives us life and the Spirit who is with us). We are image-bearers. We are all in some sense

WITH.

Living here in time and space, each of our moments is thick with the past—and pregnant with the future—calling us to be creators, curators, visionaries, encouragers, healers, leaders, servants.

Will we

receive the breath

heed the voice

cleave to the nearness

of God?

Will we give birth to actions of faith, hope, and love

WITH?

Look up—attend, listen to this present moment.

Look back—see the river of the past feeding into the now.

Look down—see that we are standing in an estuary of the potent, teeming present.

Look toward the horizon—see the future rolling and swelling. Which waves will break upon the shore?

Look around—all that surrounds us, that the river currents and ocean tides wash in, how it is mixing. At this time, in this place, what can we do to bring

  • clarity not murkiness?
  • free flow not stagnation?
  • sweetness not putridity?
  • abundance not scarcity?
  • hope that helps people know they are

WITH?

We are part of the becomingness of everlasting life!

Will we face the moment, listen to what it is saying about us, about the past that has influenced who we are, about what we are bringing into the future, and what the future may be bringing to us?

God—being revealed through Jesus, the Scriptures, and creation—is patient, persistent, longsuffering, even slow . . . convincing, helping, here

WITH.

Like compass needles, we seek, seek True North; and True North wants to, wills to, be found.

Yet, bent, we wobble and resist.

But God is not a faraway star. God is

  • the true atmosphere giving us breath.
  • the true magnetism holding us together.
  • the true dawn waking us again and again.

Does the needle think it is the true one and North should get in line?

God “strengthens the humble but opposes the proud.”—

This is to say, when we set ourselves in opposition, we cannot join hands

WITH.

No matter where we go, where we have been, where our feet stand now in time . . . we are not alone, never away from God’s influence, care, wooing. If “God with us” holds all our times past—keeps our “tears in a bottle”. . . . If God at every moment sees all the possible steps into the future. . . . If God imagines the myriad possible intersections of our path with the paths of others. . . . Then let us act, step out, take hold, clasp hands, join hearts

WITH.

Forces exist that would divide us, separate us, within, without.

God—Love—would bring us together.

In this estuary of the consequential, substantial present . . .

The young gambol in swirls of fresh water, thinking they’ll forever play among the land mammals, trees, and sun-drenched grasses.

We who have traveled longer sense saltiness in the water and feel the undertow pulling away from familiar moorings. We will soon find ourselves in the waters of what from here appears to be dark swelling mysteries and unfathomed depths … to a separation temporal, but a connection and communion everlasting.

Fresh water and salt water mingle here and now, but these waters continually recede, like breath and blood flowing in and out of lungs—rhythms of life attuned

WITH.

If we have a God who speaks, comforts, helps,

and in whom “all things hold together,”

then surely God is continually present to us and all creation?

And if God’s Spirit is manifest “wherever two or three are gathered,”

then surely God the Spirit is speaking and influencing here, there,

WITH.

In this moment, are we thriving?

How can we continue to stand, let alone flourish, if divided against ourselves—lacking harmony in our inner lives, our families, our churches, our nations, our world?

We say we believe some form of:

  • “God created the heavens and the earth.”
  • “God called creation ‘good’.”
  • “God so loved the world. . .”

Then God isn’t against us but

WITH!

Can we agree, in this in-between time of grace and faith, as we open our hearts and minds to the Alpha and Omega, to seek God’s reign and will “on earth as it is in heaven,” and work together

WITH?

This moment carries roots and leaves of past moments and seeds of all future moments. What we do—now—matters. Is this present mix of waters rich with life and health both ecological and societal? Jesus said we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” We are caretakers of creation and each other when we partner

WITH.

Why do we blindly and stubbornly waste personal and corporate energies on greedy squabbles and turf wars?

Can we

  • accept slowness; unplug, listen, “fear not”?
  • trust together in creation’s innate ability to heal and renew, and accept our part in that?
  • acknowledge our own need for healing and renewal?
  • choose a mindset of benevolence for all?
  • have faith and hope in goodness and salvation?

Surely our God of creative, gracious, relentless love, will help us to join

WITH.

We need each other.

Will we lead the way by giving up worn-out stances, protectiveness, fear?

Let us be conservative—conservers of the truly good.

Let us be liberal—truly generous and tolerant.

We can each take responsibility to do something to make a positive difference, to be life-giving, to partner with God and each other in what Love seeks to do and calls us to participate in, as co-laborers. This labor is not burdensome, when we are yoked

WITH.

I know some people who choose to listen to, love freely, and work with God to sweeten the waters where they stand:

  • A prosperous, conservative Christian couple who cultivate acres of gardens to grow produce for their local food bank.
  • An evangelical pastor who has organized a ministry of prayer, friendship, and outreach to Muslim refugees in his city.
  • A retired professor and writer who follows God in vulnerability, revealing her trauma and healing to help others.
  • Contemplatives and poets who listen to and articulate a language of the heart to reach and touch fellow longing hearts.
  • Theologians reaching across institutional divides with hopeful understandings of God’s essence and presence.
  • A quiet man who invites neighbors into his home, where he and his wife pray and care for them, and share life together.
  • Wounded healers who listen, love, and pray with all who come; inviting, seeking, finding Jesus in broken places.
  • My friend who sits with people dying alone in hospital, so they will not die alone but know they are

WITH.

We stand here in a richness of the influential past and the potential future

as hope enlivens the waters. Will we:

  • vision together a more healthy and happy future?
  • seek healing for wounds we carry from the past?
  • affirm the good in this pregnant moment?
  • join hands together and partner

WITH God?

~Catherine Lawton

“With” (here slightly revised) was first published in the book Partnering with God. (SacraSage, 2021)

Unsplash Photos: 1) Joshua Gaunt 2) Nick Fewings

 

Authentic Faith, Following Jesus, Perseverence, Poetry, Venturing for the Lord

Life As a Journey

by  • 4 Comments

“Does the road wind up-hill all the way?”

“Yes, to the very end.”

“Does the day’s long journey take the whole long day?”

“From morn to night, my friend.”

This poem by Christina Rossetti has often given me encouragement to keep stepping onward and upward on my own life’s journey. Just recently, Rossetti’s poem came to mind again— when I noticed that many Cladach book titles allude to various aspects and dimensions of this journey called ‘life.’ For instance,

that up-hill road will be an adventure that requires us to WALK, taking one step after another:

Walk the Land: A Journey on Foot

As we walk, we will inevitably need to TRUST:

Walking In Trust

The Journey will require COURAGE:

BRAVE: A Personal Story

We may need to RUN (turning from SHAME and toward LOVE):

Scandalon: Running from Shame and Finding God's Scandalous Love

Our journey may provide ESCAPE and NEW BEGINNINGS:

Stories of Escape from Sudan to Israel

Our journey may be fraught with DANGERS:

The Dangerous Journey of Sherman the Sheep

Our journey will involve SEARCHING and FINDING:

Searching for the Sacred On Kitten Creek

We will COME to oases that bid us to STAY awhile, be REFRESHED, experience HEALING, and CELEBRATE:

Come Stay Celebrate!

The journey provides stretches of solitude for PONDERING, CONTEMPLATING, and REMEMBERING:

Remembering Softly: A Life In Poems

The journey includes places to PAUSE, let others pass by, and find RENEWED PERSPECTIVE:

Pausing in the Passing Places

Along the journey we may find ourselves PRAYING, PRAISING, even LAMENTING:

I Cry Unto You, O Lord: poems

Opening our hearts, we will experience Renewed WONDER and Freer IMAGINATIONS:

Glimpsing Glory: Poems of Living & Dying, Praying & Playing, Belonging & Longing

And the rest of Christina Rossetti’s poem:

But is there for the night a resting-place?

   A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.

May not the darkness hide it from my face?

   You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?

   Those who have gone before.

Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?

   They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?

   Of labor you shall find the sum.

Will there be beds for me and all who seek?

   Yea, beds for all who come.

Answering the Call of Christ, Authentic Faith, Poetry

Courage!

by  • 0 Comments

“March on, my soul, with might!” (from “Deborah’s Song” – Judges 5:21b)

Sometimes I see a need but hesitate to step in and try to help. After all, who am I? Just little ol’ me. Sometimes I believe I have received a word from the Lord. But would others believe me or accept the word if I shared it?

Then I contemplate a favorite biblical heroine: Deborah (whose story is told in Judges 4 and 5). To me, she is an epitome of faith-filled courage. Deborah acted in ways unheard of (or at least highly unusual) for women in her time. She rose up and provided leadership when male leadership was fearful and hesitant. She had doubters and detractors, I’m sure. But she is immortalized and remembered for her devotion, wisdom, bravery, and leadership.

Deborah is the only female judge of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament. People would come to her for counsel and avail themselves of her wisdom and insights. Evidently, she knew how to listen for God’s “voice.” When she heard from God, she believed and acted with God to respond to a need.

Deborah confronted Barak, the general of the Israelite army, and told him God wanted him to go forth and defeat Sisera, leader of Jabin’s army. Barak, no doubt recognizing and admiring her ardor and courage,  answered that he would only fight if she would go with him. Deborah went … and inspired the Israelites to a mighty victory over their oppressors. And, as a musician and poet myself, I love that her rejoicing overflowed in song.

I admire women who let their experience with God embolden them to step into challenges, unfamiliar and perhaps hostile domains, and speak and lead courageously, effectively, and fruitfully. And I respect the men who listen to these women and “ride to battle” with them.

I wrote this poem (below) about Deborah. We can turn to Deborah for inspiration and strength to take courage and do what God is calling us to do, working with God in a way that flows out of our love for God and others.

DEBORAH

A fierce and beautiful woman
who inspired courage in men;
Sought out for wisdom and judgment;
trusted to lead and to win.

A woman who listened and let God
beat on the drum of her heart;
Marching to danger with faith,
speaking God’s words from the start.

Not full of self—neither loathing,
nor doubt nor concern—but aligned.
Giving and going and serving
in front of, beside, and behind.

Sure in times of uncertainty,
faithful when others despair;
Lifting the flagging to valor,
singing the victory aire.

~Catherine Lawton (from Remembering Softly: A Life in Poems)

Image: A 13th Century depiction of Deborah and Barak in the French National Library. Public Domain.

 

 

Authentic Faith, Book reviews, Memoirs, New Releases

A Captivating Journey through the Stages of a Woman’s Life

by  • 0 Comments

We received a beautiful letter from Fran Stedman (a British scholar, therapist, and teacher) who lives “across the pond.” She wrote an endorsement of Alice Scott-Ferguson’s memoir, Daughter of the Isles. Regrettably we we had to shorten Fran’s eloquent writing for use as a book cover blurb.

Below I share Fran’s entire review. Though this review doesn’t mention the ministry and multi-cultural parts of Alice’s story (which took place in Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, New York, and Colorado) it does offer a vivid look at Alice herself and the themes of her life. So here are the words of British theologian and psychologist Fran Stedman:

In Daughter of the Isles, Alice Scott-Ferguson takes readers on a captivating journey through the stages of her life. With her exquisite prose and poetry, she skillfully invites us to immerse ourselves in her experiences. Through her vivid descriptions, we can almost smell the fragrances and visualize the picturesque sights she encounters, from the gentle sand fringed bays and towering cliffs of her home island to the enchanting scent of flowers guiding ships to safe harbor.

As we delve into Alice’s story, we become acquainted with compelling characters like Granny Nort, a product of the Victorian era, of fairness, justice, and equality within religious institutions. [Then later we see Alice] fearlessly challenging patriarchal norms. She spearheads initiatives to empower women and helps them find spiritual freedom in their true selves in Christ.

Alice and Jim as a young couple on the sandy beach of Papa Stour in the Shetlands

However, in Daughter of the Isles Alice doesn’t shy away from the painful aspects of her life. She shares her heart wrenching experiences of leaving her idyllic island home at age twelve and the profound grief she felt upon losing her soulmate, Jim, after many decades of marriage. More recently, she faced the devastating loss of a second husband, plunging her into a deep grief once again.

One of the remarkable aspects of this book is the journey of personal growth and spiritual development that Alice takes us on. We witness her transformation from a passionate warrior fighting for women’s empowerment to a serene and confident individual who finds solace in the finished work of Christ.

Alice Scott-Ferguson

The humility she displays in acknowledging the need for new perspectives on God’s grace is a beautiful lesson we can all learn from.

It is a beautifully written memoir that takes readers on a poignant and transformative journey. It is a book that will resonate with those seeking inspiration, spiritual growth, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be fully human.

Fran Stedman combines her time as a teacher of Philosophy, Theology, Ethics and Psychology, and an honorary Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in a low-cost clinic in Central London, UK. She also runs a private practice offering therapy. Fran is a member of the Center of Open and Relational Theology, and she facilitates local theological discussions as well as thought provoking discourse on existential matters for individuals who may feel uneasy in traditional religious settings. Fran recently collaborated on the co-editing of a book of essays by writers worldwide, Partnering with God. She holds a BA in Psychology, BA (with honors) in Theology and Education, and MA in Political Theology.

Top photo: Max Stoiber / Unsplash

Learn more about the book, Daughter of the Isles HERE.

On hopeful paths of prayer and poetry,

~Catherine Lawton

God and Creation, Nature Writings, New Releases, Nurturing Wonder

The Animals In Our Lives

by  • 6 Comments

Who doesn’t love animals and animal stories!

Photos of furry creatures and social-media videos of cute animal antics … books and movies of animal adventures … these are popular because they evoke feelings of wonder, memories of beloved pets, joy and excitement of wildlife sightings, or sensory experiences of a trip to the farm. Here is what I believe about our relationship to animals:

• Animals are our fellow creatures, loved by the Creator.
• Animals can provide companionship, inspiration, and comfort.
• Animals can teach us about the Creator and how to relate to God.
• Animals provide metaphors of our lives that help us understand ourselves.
• Animals (especially those in the wild) represent elements of Mystery.

God cares for his earthly creatures. He created them, blessed them, called them “good.” He saved the animals from the Flood and then made a covenant with “every living creature.” Many Scriptures display God’s care for animals. Old Testament laws protected animals. Jesus’ parables affirmed and spotlighted them.

In God’s Creatures: A Biblical View of Animals, Susan Bulanda asks: “Is it possible that God has put the desire to care for all animals in the hearts of many people … God’s love for his creation showing through humans?” Later, she adds: “Could there be subtle lessons of love God gives us through our pets?”

I think you will recognize these reciprocal lessons of love—some subtle and some not so subtle—in the stories, poems, anecdotes, and reflections included in this volume.

Sometimes animals are mirrors for us to see ourselves more clearly. I have found my dog to be a barometer of my emotions. His responses tell me when I am getting anxious or when my words sound too harsh; he responds much differently when my tone of voice is sweet and cheerful. It makes me feel bad to see him put his ears back and watch me with a worried expression. It makes me feel good to see him wag his tail and smile at me.

Animals, both wild and domestic, also help us by calling forth our sense of awe. As Thomas Berry has said, we need all of creation, including the animals “to evoke a world of mystery, to evoke the sacred.”

I continually wonder at the wilds of nature that can thrive alongside, often in spite of and struggling to adjust in the midst of, the civilized, tamed, domestic world. When a bird comes close and sings, when a deer steps out of the forest; these surprise sightings thrill. Finding myself sharing space with a wild creature, aware of each other, watching each other even for a moment, is a reminder of not only how different we are, but of what we have in common. Both the animal kind and my kind have breath. We communicate with body language and voice. We walk, run, choose mates, nurture families, search for food, seek shelter. And when we share moments of awareness and attention, the resulting experiential knowledge surely changes or affects us both in some way (hopefully not making us more fearful of each other), perhaps increasing our appreciation of our common creation.

We also share our lives with pets and, sometimes, farm animals. Our human friends learn to accept our animals as “part of the deal.” In a deeper application, the slogan often seen on kitchen towels or plaques, “Love me, love my dog” could, I think, be re-phrased “Love God, love God’s creatures.” Theologians have said as much, and more.

  • Celtic saint Columbanus exhorted, “Understand, if you want to know the Creator, created things.”
  • Orthodox scholar Maximus the Confessor taught the idea that creation (as well as Scripture) is God’s book. “God is ‘encoded’ for us in everything he has made. We are surrounded on every side by his ‘letters,’ his ‘analogies’ in creatures….” Our part is to care for, as well as give attention and respect to, the creatures, and even to praise God on their behalf.
  • Protestant evangelical theologian (and bird watcher) John Stott wrote, “God has given to human beings a midway position between himself and the animals. … In consequence, we combine the dependence on God that is common to all his creatures with a responsible dominion over the [animals] that is unique.”
  • Catholic writer Charles Camosy adds, “Nearly all theologians now agree that the biblical dominion God has given human beings over creation is not a license to use and dominate, but rather a command to be caretakers and stewards.”

I am thankful for all the dogs, cats, fish, chickens, ducks, birds, as well as the rabbits, squirrels, and deer that have been part of my life at different stages. I have cared for them, learned from them, and shared life with them. Many times when I or my family were facing challenging times, our hearts and spirits were lightened because the animals were there.

God, of course, is always there, everywhere, ever present to us; but God, who is spirit, does not have a corporeal body with skin, hands, and feet. Animals (as well as people) help God help us feel our loving, relational God’s presence.

With all this in mind, I enjoyed compiling, editing (and writing a number of) these often-funny, sometimes sad, and always awe-inspiring experiences with animals. I hope our readers enjoy these stories, too. You may find yourself laughing, crying, and appreciating more than ever God’s creatures, the animals in our lives.

On hopeful paths of prayer and poetry,

~Catherine Lawton

 

 

This post first published Jul 29, 2021. It was extracted from the Introduction to the book, The Animals In Our Lives: Stories of Companionship and Awe.The book contains delightful accounts of people with their dogs, cats, sheep, horses, backyard birds, woodland deer, and many other creatures. Our animals—pets, farm animals, and wildlife—inspire our awe, entertain us, help us, teach us, play with us, mourn with us, even work with us. Any animal lover will enjoy this very readable book.

Image credit: © Can Stock Photo / Gajus