As I go on my daily walks, I sometimes encounter dead squirrels or birds in the roads, casualties of life in our after-Eden world. It always hurts me to see them lying there, broken, on the hard pavement. It seems so cold and hard. Usually I'll move them under a bush or something. Something...a little more natural, less clinical, less mechanical. Sometimes, I just have to put them back into the ground.
Anything that moves me emotionally, up or down, I look for the underlying "why?" of it. This one, I've known for a while. It's because, someone has to care.
God created a man, and unimaginatively named him "Man," which is all that "Adam" means. Man's job was to name the animals and watch over them all. (Remember "If I Ran the Zoo,
" by Dr. Seuss?) It was a big job, and it stunk that the man was alone, so God created a powerful helper, Eve. (That's the biblical use of the Hebrew word "ezer." If you feel like a doormat-woman, read this. But I digress.)Then the whole Fall happened, Eden was lost, and Man and Eve looked for new employment. They abandoned the animals. I imagine the animals were lonely, and I imagine they still are, in some way that we can't reach through. I know that we miss them. And I know why that tiny, warm little body felt so good in my hand this morning, as the storms moved in from the Gulf to drench us all. Man gave him a name and a place. I'm a Man. And he's still mine to take care of. Even in death.
I'm not saying everyone "save the environment" - that's only a secular cause. I'm just saying that we were made to be the tenders of the garden; that when an animal tugs at our heartstrings, we're feeling a little restoration of Eden in our hearts. God's quite clear on stewarding the good things he gives us: using them for our good, but not exploiting them. Next time it happens to you, maybe, just maybe, listen for God's Eden-heart, redeeming just a little bit more of our Fallen world to Himself. And You as well, son of Adam, daughter of Eve.
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