Creature Wonder

Sometimes I enjoy watching one of those “Animal Planet” type shows. The specialized photography and the teaching about the wonders of different animal species are captivating. If you made it your business to know as much as you could about the creatures of this earth, the task would be lifelong.

The Sunday coming up, we celebrate our patronal festival, The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. With the stories and traditions of Francis, we learn of his humble sense of wonder at the creation. There is a short, preserved message of Francis called his “Sermon to the Birds.” There are also his prayers, referring to heavenly bodies as Sister Moon and Brother Sun. This conveys a connection to the subjects of the created order. I am sure you have felt the impact of marvels within nature. It is not unusual for something in nature to trigger your own sense of awe there is a Creator behind all that exists. Surprisingly, a finite scene or a fellow creature can be a bridge to the Infinite.

This year, in our observance of St. Francis Day, we will read part of the theophany of Job. The figure of Job suffers greatly and has cried out to God for answers. Our first lesson in the Eucharist on Sunday is part of God’s answer back to the man in anguish. It is an encounter with the Almighty: God’s self-revelation to the one who has asked why he was made to suffer so. He is not given direct answers to his question but is asked in return a long and odd series of questions. God’s questions take Job outside of himself, beyond the repeating loop of his complaint to God. They pulse out, over and over, the declaration that God is wholly other than the creature. From the beginning, God is the Origin, who has set all being in motion:

The Lord, out of the tempest, further answered Job:

“Do you know when the mountain-goats are born
or attend the wild doe when she is in labor?
Do you count the months that they carry their young
or know the time of their delivery,
when they crouch down to open their wombs
and bring their offspring to the birth,
when the fawns grow and thrive in the open forest,
and go forth and do not return?

"Who has let the wild ass of Syria range at will
and given the wild ass of Arabia its freedom?—
whose home I have made in the wilderness
and its lair in the saltings;
it distains the noise of the city
and is deaf to the driver’s shouting;
it roams the hills as its pasture
and searches for anything green.
Does the wild ox consent to serve you,
does it spend the night in your stall?
Can you harness it’s strength with ropes,
or will it harrow the furrows after you?
Can you depend on it, strong as it is,
or leave your labor to it?
Do you trust it to come back
and bring home your grain to the threshing-floor?

"The wings of the ostrich are stunted;
her pinions and plumage are so scanty
that she abandons her eggs to the ground,
letting them be kept warm by the sand.
She forgets that a foot may crush them,
or a wild beast trample on them;
she treats her chicks heartlessly as if they were not hers,
not caring if her labor is wasted
(for God has denied her wisdom
and left her without sense),
while like a cock she struts over the uplands,
scorning both horse and rider."  (Job 31:1-16 NEB)

These descriptions show the wonder of the animal world, the design of which the human-animal had no part, but which the Creator designs omnisciently. We are left to marvel. To have the mysteries of nature laid before Job prompted awe within his heart. Thinking about the vast array of creatures might foster what theologians call “a creature feeling”.  This is a humbling sensation of shrinking before the vastness of the Divine Being. Sometimes we are granted the awareness of dependence upon God—a poignant humility before the Creator. Awed, Job was moved to trust the Almighty, so his enumerated complaints fade before the emergence of love and reverence.

This blossoming disposition is probably very like the perpetual holy feeling Francis of Assisi nurtured in himself and others. All of creation points to the divine Mystery undergirding life itself. For Francis, this meeting of Mystery was a profound acquaintance with personal joy, humility, and love. The theophany Job experienced to lift him out of his suffering, is a complimentary match to the joyous poverty, preaching, and serving Francis discovered in his years of progression into the wonder of the Creator. We too have this invitation to enter the Life of God. Knowing God to be at the center of all that is, we discover that the created order is no barrier, but rather a bridge to the Eternal.