Every creature is a word of God: Giraffe

“Every creature is a word of God.” (Meister Eckhart)

Once upon a time, all good stories begin with these words. Even true stories like this one.

Once upon a time the Lord God, for what reason, only the Lord God knows, opened a window in heaven to show a very young woman; His creatures, lion, tiger, leopard, rabbit, hedgehog, dove and pelican (by request this last one) and a Giraffe.

For what reason?

Well 50 years on, she often revisits the scene in her mind, and ponders and ponders.

She knows the reason for the pelican. That was given, simply because overcome with delight with all the others, she asked, as only the very young can, “Have you got a pelican, Lord?”

A few years later visiting the Zoo with niece and nephew, standing just watching some of these creatures made of bone and flesh, she realised that with patience, she could predict just what each creature was likely to do next, and eventually she came to realise that human beings were no different, with patient, quiet loving attention the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are readable like a picture book, and all the more lovable for just that reason.

What great delight, the Lord God must have had in planning and crafting all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, He made and loves them all. And then on the 6th day, as late as that in His working week, it pleased God to make Adam and Eve to give His creatures names and to care for them ~ “Every creature is a word of God” … there is much wisdom in that, if only we are able to see with the eyes of a child, the eyes of a son of Adam or a daughter of Eve.

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He showed me a Giraffe. Now I am small in stature, like Zacchaeus, I would have needed to climb a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus and short in knowledge of Giraffes, but this one, the Lord made, or so it seemed to me, to kneel down and reach down, his lovely, strong neck so that I could notice his eyelashes, his markings, his quiet composure, his grace.

And so, as I have thought about the scriptures the word of God, the Giraffe became for me a word of God and a mirror of the Eternal Word of God. In Jesus the Father, Creator God came down to us, and visited us with such Grace that the humble and lowly of heart might reach up and dare, like simple, loving children to embrace the strength of a Giraffe’s neck in perfect love and trust without fear.

“In love there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to perfection in love.”

“Do not think in your heart, ‘who will go up to heaven? – that is to bring Christ down; or who will go down to the depths? – that is to bring Christ back from the dead. What does it say then? The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth; and in your heart, that is the word of faith.”

Always remember that God hates the proud but reveals His heart to the heart of a child, blessed are the pure in heart they shall see God, and to them ‘every creature is a word of God.

Scriptures from the NJB: 1 John 4.18 – Romans 9. 6-8 with reference to Matthew 5.8

Visions of creatures from the Grace of God, may He be blessed who blesses His little children.

Your thoughts and comments always welcome.

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It does matter, in God’s House,

Three Church leaders chatted about the behaviour of children at the last session of a craft/ family meeting.
Some of the Children had been noisy and more inclined to run about the large hall then to do crafts etc.
Last month, it was pointed out the noise, running around running etc had been even worse, far worse because that had been in the actual Church not the Church Hall.
The Supervisory Leader retorted that Church was God’s House and that children had to be made welcome… Full stop.
Another leader declared angrily that parents should keep their children under control, and pay more attention to what their child, in some cases, children were doing, and less to mobile phones!

I simply ventured to say that on this occasion, some of the activity had been a little “old for some of the children, and maybe today, they had been a little bored.”

That last statement had been true, and seemed to calm the three friends down. But I went away feeling a little saddened by some of the things I had heard especially concerning the meeting in the Church. Nowadays, many ‘ unchurched ‘ (that’s the name I have heard given to visitors who come in for weddings, christenings… just do not have a sense of where they are, and all too sadly what the service is all about. If this is true of adults it is most certainly true of children. My church is a warm hearted, welcoming church … All are welcome … full stop. Yet I have an aching sadness and a longing for, My Father’s House of Prayer.
I rarely quarrel, I try very hard not too at times, yet it stayed with me that that in order to be a welcoming place, The House of Prayer has to sacrifice its character and those who seek a quiet place to bring troubled hearts, to pray … and to actually hear the word of God, just have to accept the changes in the world.
Then, the word of the Lord which came this morning on waking… the word from His Perspective..
“It does matter to Me. How can I bless little ones if they are not bought to me? Did I ever turn children away when they were bought to me? Did I ever refuse to bless them. I have not changed. But the times and manners of people have. Surely, you know this. Not everyone who enters a church, comes to me, but how I will bless the ones who bring little ones and teach them to listen for my voice, how can I lay my hand on a child who won’t keep still”
Yes, Church is God’s House of Prayer, consecrated that my Presence might rest there, surely it is right for my people, who call themselves my people, to speak to parents that they should pay attention to the manners and behaviour of their children. I teach that Mother and Father should be honoured and also that a Mother and Father should admonish their children and grandchildren to honour me. How can I bless if I am not heard?“

As for those who ache with sadness, ‘Have they not read, that I, also was eaten up with zeal for my Father‘s House, did I not say, it should be called a House of Prayer?”
“I ask again, how can I bless if little ones are not bought to me?” How can my hand touch and bless, how can I be heard, if my children are not still? And who will ask my questions for Me. ”
The cross and flowers were part of Easter display in Church.

Where are you? What are you doing?

Sit a child down at a kitchen table with paints, brush and water jar, ask them to paint you a picture and with great delight they will do. Ask them to paint anything and they will, anything at all. Perhaps not with any great skill at all, after all we are not all going to become Picasso’s, or Rembrandts, but paint a picture they will and present it to you with great joy.

So, what holds us back from being a witness of the things we have seen and heard, from being a “witness to the word of God, and to the witness of Jesus Christ (Revn. 1:2. NJB); bearing in mind that we have the Lord’s promise ‘ I am with you always, yes, to the end of time.’

This morning my waking dreams were colourful, of fragmented shards, pieces of stained glass waiting assembly into a window, pieces of jig-saw puzzle waiting to be sorted and placed into the picture. If I were a child, I would not be so anxious that they were all in exactly the right place, I would just make a start, but as a 7 x 7 years, and then a bit adult, I need the picture on the box lid, I need an art/craft class.

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Lately, the Lord has been asking me a question:

‘Where are you?’

In my home, sitting by the fire, in the garden, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, in church, around the shops,

‘Where are you’

Sometimes, The Lord asks,

“What are you doing now?”

I must admit, I have answered, at times, ‘Lord you know all things, you know where I am and what I am doing’ and then I will say, ‘I am with you, Lord’

That is the answer, the Lord has been looking for.

Sometimes, when feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, I have cried out to Him that I felt like Jonah swallowed up by the whale, and have felt His smile plumbing the depths to reach me. It is then that I have realised that my grown up self was running away from some simple errand that a child would just have taken on board as an adventure with Daddy.

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Every child has heard the story of Jonah.

God said to Jonah, “Up! Go to Nineveh…”

And Jonah ‘set about running from Yahweh’

Finally Jonah prayed, and ‘Yahweh spoke to the fish, which vomited Jonah onto the dry land’

Jonah’s story does not end there, nor even with the repentance of Nineveh, chapter 4 of the book tells us he was very indignant with the Lord, telling his Father to take away his life because his Father had not destroyed that great city of Nineveh as threatened because the King and people had repented. He then sat down just outside the city, after making himself a shelter for shade to see what would happen to it. We are told that Yahweh God ordained that a castor-oil plant should grow up to give him shade and soothe his ill humour, Jonah was delighted with that, but at dawn the next day, God ordained that a worm should attack the caster-oil plant … and it withered. So next day, the scorching east wind and hot sun beat down on Jonah’s head so hard that he begged for death, ‘I might as well be dead as go on living’

Now, isn’t that the childish tantrum to beat all tantrums!

But, hear our Father’s answer,

‘You are concerned for the castor-oil plant which has not cost you any effort and which you did not grow, which came up in a night and has perished in a night. So why should I not be concerned for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, to say nothing of all the animals?’

Our Father did not fore sake Jonah, He prepared the great fish to rescue him, The word of the Lord which Jonah carried to Nineveh did not fail, it bought salvation to those who Jonah could not see the completed picture … our Father gave him shade from the fierce heat … still Jonah could not see that Lord was with him.

Every time, You ask, ‘Where are you?’

Every time You ask, ‘What are you doing, now?’

Father give me grace to say,

‘I am with the Lord, who is always with me, may I always do as you desire’

Amen.

Then I looked and saw:

An artist’s brush dipped into a water jar, colouring the clean, clear water with pigment. In my seeing the pigment was crimson red.

I am still thinking and waiting for more insight about that.

If you have any thoughts, please don’t hesitate to comment,

I am currently using the New Jerusalem Bible and all scripture references are from there. The photos are my own. I am very much a child when it comes to photography. Many blessings to all who read this post.