Psalm 24v1 The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.
During half-term I went with my daughter and four of my great grandchildren – two 3-year-olds and two 5-year-olds – to Colchester Zoo. The weather was beautiful and I was looking forward to being with the little ones but I had mixed feelings about being in a Zoo. Having seen many animals in the wild in Africa I really questioned if it was right to keep these incredible creatures in a totally different environment and climate. In the safari parks it was like we were the ones enclosed in our cars while the animals roamed wild, sometimes watching us and we felt a little bit like intruders in their vast world. In the Zoo we were the ones who were free to roam and the animals were enclosed.
There are several things that will stay in my mind from the trip to the Zoo. Many of the enclosures were very large and there was a mixture of animals living side by side as they would be in the wild. There were huge rhinos together with graceful giraffe and the smaller kudu’s as well as beautiful cranes for instance. That was a bit more acceptable to me. The children were mesmerised with the variety of fish in the aquarium, the rain forest area, the large stick insect they were able to hold in their hands. Perhaps most of all they were so excited to feed the giraffe and the elephants – they each had their own small bucket filled with appropriate food and were fascinated by the long tongue of the giraffe and the trunk of the elephant. From the vultures to the flamingos, the tarantula and the snake, the mini hippos to the monkeys and lemurs the children didn’t get tired of looking. My highlight was a close up view of a truly magnificent tiger – we watched for many minutes as he wandered through the shrubs in his large enclosure.
My thoughts – first of all what an amazing world God has created for us to live in. So much variety – in shape, colour, size and sounds. He could have made it all black and white.
Secondly how many of these animals are endangered in the wild and maybe my great grandchildren will never get to see them in the wild, partly because their habitat is disappearing and, for some of them, because of poachers.
Thirdly, I saw everything through the eyes of small children. Their awe and wonder and absolute delight as they took in everything that they saw. What would it be like if we all could see our amazing world with the excitement of children? Would we be much more careful and protective of it? As I rake the leaves in the garden as the trees prepare for Spring, I am reminded that this amazing world is God’s incredible gift to us.
Lord help us to treasure this wonderful world and together learn to care for it with a passion. Amen