In the presence of God

"1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. [...]

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." [Genesis 1:1-27, 1:31, 2:1-3]

As Human Beings we are always so focused on our own existence that we often deny other beings and species their undeniable bond with the Father that also created them - as if God Himself wouldn't have spent the same amount of time making them as He did making us. Granted, animals were not made in God's image, but when you take a closer look at His entire Creation you should be able to pause and marvel at His attenion to detail, His colorful intention, and His vast, purposeful knowledge of where, when and why every animal was placed here and not there on the Earth He also formed. Just like us, made in His image, animals have a purpose in this whole ecosystem of alive and breathing things we call life. And although God granted dominion to man over His creation, I do not believe this dominion implied an absence of kindred inception motives between them and us. Many forget that God's original intention was the Garden of Eden, where it is not mentioned that animals died to be consumed by Adam and Eve. Instead, God stated:

"28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so." - [Genesis 1:28-29]

To rule over something or someone does not mean to destroy it. It means to guide it, protect it, and provide for it whatever it is needed to survive. I believe that misconception is the devil's biggest lie yet, in his perfect plot to destroy everything God created. Meanwhile God Himself proved the devil wrong when He hancrafted our entire world with the sole purpose of loving us all.

While God is obviously not against animals being on our plate, the idea that somehow He is okay with how these beings are being exploited today is preposterous. After all, it was those He created in His image who did not follow His instructions in the Garden and not the animals. They were the innocent collateral damage of the most damning act of desobedience. And yet millions of people today feel unattached to and unimpressed by the Animal Kingdom, whose only reigning King has always been God - unlike us humans, who demanded a flesh and blood king from the Creator of the Universe, and have since Saul struggled to heed to the voice of the One who made it all possible. Unlike the animals of this Earth, who never lost perspective, hearing, or focus, attentive as they are always to the master that imagined and saw them before they even set paw, claw, or scale in the Garden. And how do we know this? Have you ever seen a bird in the wild stressing over what to eat or where to sleep? Many birds in captivity however suffer from depression and anxiety, plocking their feathers as an attempt to regain control of their emotions and their world...because a human being took them from their God-controlled enviornment to make them dependable on other human beings to survive, and are not naturally equipped to do so - to let go of their truth, robbed of their peace and their master. You can see this same unsettling behavior in zoo-kept animals. My mother had to run out of a gorilla exhibit once when I was a child, after a male gorilla stared at her dead in the eyes and all of his suffering was exposed and transfered to her, to the point that she could not breath and had to leave. That gorilla tried to tell my mother about what he had lost, and it was unbearable to her.

"26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [a]cubit to his[b]stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [c]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - [Matthew 6:26-34]

I understood something almost magical a few days ago and perhaps I need to lay out a context so that you can understand how amazingly eye-opening this was for me, and yet how validating of my own life-long struggle at the same time. Animals do know something we do not know - not without effort and persistance and faith, anyway. They know His voice. When He is present - and He always is - there is no fear, there is no worry. They know He will feed them and shelter them, and when the time comes to no longer be, they must know who will be mourning their loss to never forget they once lived. Compassion was not only meant for us. If that were true, animals would have been subjected to infinite acts of cruelty throughout the Bible. There is however not one verse where an animal is brutally murdered and offered to God as a sacrifice. Cruelty is NEVER mentioned. God never asked for it. Why then do human beings embrace factory farms and other man-made horrific torture chambers for animals? Dominion never had anything to do with abuse.

I would like to go even a little further. I believe most animals trust humans more than they should because we were created in the image of God. How can something - someone - like God be willing to harm them? There is, I also believe, a reason why calves and lambs were often sacrificed throughout the Old Testament in their burnt and sin offerings. They were young enough to still be innocent enough to what human beings could become. God values innocence of the heart, His sacred territory, the place where He finds our own truths, regardless of what our mouths may say instead. Jesus Himself made a very important observation about children, the epitome of human innocence:

13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. - [Matthew 9:13-15]

Meekness, gentleness, humility...innocence in its purest state. Just as the animals that were created by the same hand that created you and me. They know something we don't, so they don't worry about their food or shelter: they know it will be there, God will provide. We struggle with the concept of full and unconditional trust because our sin is constant and the need of God's grace is an on-going, daily occurrence. Animals however already trust because unlike us, they know who formed them without reading the Bible. A part of me believes that my heart knew something I didn't know about animals as well - and this is why I wanted to not eat them at a very young age. I am a Christian and a Vegan not because I believe that God is Vegan - He is not - but because He allowed me to utilize my dominion in the way I saw fit, and I do not wish to harm those who know Him.

I want to know what they know. I want to be so innocent and so trusting of my Father that He finds shelter in my heart forever. I want to look at my troubles and see nothing more than a place for miracles to happen.