Friday, April 22, 2011

Easter, Animal Rights, and The Cycle of Life

Today, is "Good Friday". The day Christians celebrate the death (crucifixion) of Jesus Christ. In two days we will celebrate the Resurrection (rebirth/new life) of the same man. This is the Easter story in part.

I believe that all created things carry with them a message about their creator. I have been reading a book that attempts to discover who Wm. Shakespeare was as a person from his writings. A trained musician can learn something of the personal nature of the performer and the writer by examining the music they create. We learn something about a property owner by looking at their property and how it is cared for. "Talking Heads" try to define politicians by their actions. And on and on it goes.

We learn something about our Creator as we interact with those things He has Created. All of creation carries with it the imprint of the one who made it. Scripture tells us that if God's people will not praise Him then the rocks of the field will. The incredible order and complexity of life tells us something about God. Even evolutional theory suggests that things are moving from the simple to the complex, exactly the opposite direction you would expect. In attempting to explain away the Creator they end up pointing straight at Him. So I see all things carrying with them the stamp of the Creator.

Adam and Eve are told by God in the earliest part of their relationship, do not eat the apple or you will die. They ate the apple any way and now we see death and dying all around us. They traded life for death. And in doing so, caused the reordering of creation by God. This reordering is most clearly stated in the story of Noah.

Now all around me I see life and death. We call it the "life cycle" or now as popularized by Disney in "The Lion King" the "Circle of Life". The world we live in is set around this paradox, something has to die for something else to live. Scripture describes this cycle of life many ways but the one that comes to mind is that of a seed falling to the ground must "die" before a plant can be "born". Scripture teaches that if you want to live you must die. Ever since Adam and Eve the creation has been pointing out this truth about the Creator, He holds "life" in his hand. He is "Life".

We have arrived back now at my opening description of the Easter Story. Death brings forth Life. The Easter Story is addressing spititual matters but it is through this story we learn something of the Creator and how He values his Creation. The president, Barrack Obama, recently said, "There is something about the (Easter Story) death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior that puts everything into perspective." I believe he speaks correctly on this matter.

What then do we make of those who are repulsed by the killing of animals as expressed through the  animal rights and vegan movements? Are they trying to deny the "Cycle of Life"? Are they somehow more or less Christian because of their belief that animals should not be used to promote human life? I choose not to see any of this.

I see a group of people responding, either knowingly or otherwise, to the situation created by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They are attempting to choose "life" over "death" and return our world to its fundemental harmony with its Creator. (Note: if you listen carefully you will hear the sound of the environmental movement in the background.) I see a group of people that is well intentioned in that regard and they are, either knowingly or otherwise, pointing us back to the character of the One who created us.

My concern is that I don't believe that we as human's can reorder creation. That order is set by our Creator and has spiritual implications that we cannot possibly affect. We have arrived back at my opening description of the Easter Story. Death brings forth life, and in the person of Jesus Christ, that transformation is spiritual and fundemental to our human experience. It is through the work of Christ on the cross and in the grave that our spiritual lives can be reborn (given new life) and our personal world reordered to be in harmony with the Creator. It is through Christ's work not ours (animal rights, veganism, earthday, etc.) that the world is reordered.

Happy Easter!!!!

He has risen!!!!  

 Thanks for thinking with me.

No comments:

Post a Comment