Last night we watched Nature, and it was a program about Animal Reunions (PBS, 2016), broadcast for the first time (Broadway World, 2016). It was quite beautiful, and described the bond formed between humans and animals in several situations, whereby effort results in a lasting connection that can be rekindled after months or years of being out in the wild. Jane Goodall was an important guest on the program, and recounted much of what she has learned over 50 years of working with chimps in this regard. But a plethora of animals were described: gorillas and chimps, certainly, but also cheetahs and elephants. As Ms. Goodall describes, what was once a source of scorn in the scientific community, that animals might have emotions and form lasting bonds, is now accepted and explored.
The Christian community is just as slow at learning from such observations. But one thing that struck me several times during the program: the importance of trust and love forged between the animal and the human person. These are the same words that are so often repeated in the Bible as being the foundation of our relationship with God. For hundreds of years now, theologians have argued about what it means to love God, or to have “saving faith”. But perhaps it’s as easy as something that even the animals do, if only we look for it. Ironic that we would argue about such a subject, and the answer was right before us in the last place we would look. All we had to do was to go back to having the perspective we had in a garden.
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