About a year back we brought home a very small and cute Wet Highland Terrier. We’ve never had a dog before so the learning curve was steep. We had been warned that they poo and wee everywhere if not contained, and they also chew stuff. The warning wasn’t exaggerated. After two months of cleaning up dog excrement and perfuming the rapidly discolouring carpet we wondered whether we, or the dog, would survive the experiment. We did.
However, my daughter has just introduced her new love into the house - a three month old tabby kitten. I was never convinced this was a good idea and I’m sure the dog didn’t either. We were both right.
Terriers aren’t called Terriers for nothing. There is a latent DNA strand in these dogs that remains hidden until something small, warm blooded, bouncy and furry appears in front of their noses. I’ve been informed that the dog will get used to the cat but I don’t see this happening any time soon. For the last three days the animal has been making eating noises every time it gets a whiff of the cat. Cuddly the feline may be, but in the eyes of a Terrier it’s little more than lunch.
There’s a very unfortunate article in the paper today about a small child being constricted by the families 4 metre pet Python. Despite feeling sad for the girl and family I ask myself, “How can a Python really be a pet?” When they get to about 8 metres long they eat things like goats. No amount of house training can change a snakes basic eating habits.
It’s been rightly said that the snake is not at fault, it’s the people who keep them that are asking for trouble. So why do we do this? Why do we takes species from different parts of the food chain, put them together and hope they’ll become vegetarian? There really is something non-sensical about the whole activity.
Every time my kids drag me through a zoo, I’m reminded that most of these creatures are not our friends. The lion man might feel comfortable cuddling 250 kilos of muscle and teeth, but I know better.
All animals are beautiful (except maybe those cats without fur), but they aren’t all friendly and neither should they be. I respect them and they respect me. There’s a healthy kind of fear I guess.
The Bible often talks about the “fear of God” and I’m often asked why we should be scared of God. However, fear and being scared are not the same thing. Interestingly, the Lion is often used as metaphor for God: beauty, strength, protection and danger. God is not a cuddly toy! God is the creator, we are the creatures. The fear of God is a healthy respect for the divine.
There is an obvious food chain in the world and currently humans are at the top. Yet in the created order of things, God is at the top. To respect others and our world requires the experience of, and respect for, the God who is creator of all.
Digby Wilkinson 2009