This picture can be found at the link below:
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0703/feature1/gallery1.html
National Geographic regularly reports on the status of elephants in Africa, reminding the world of the gross genocide of these beautiful beasts. Click through the other pictures in the gallery to have your heart saddened. This tragedy moves me on several levels. I think of St. Paul's words in his letter to Christians in Rome, he writes that the Creation groans as it awaits redemption, the removal of evil. Every innocent animal that is needlessly, illegally, greedily slaughtered - the Creation and its Creator groan. If God is saddened by the death of a sparrow, how he must weep at the herds wiped out by ivory-hungry blackmarket barons.
Pray for those who risk their lives to protect the pakaderms, who frustrate Evil, who attempt to relieve the groans of Creation. Who will stop the slaughter of the elephants? Who will rescue them? Who will redeem those who slaughter? Come, Jesus...
Does the Way of Jesus include hearing the cry of the oppressed elephants?
2 comments:
Tim, you three illustrations from National Geographic worked very nicely in going along with a sermon on greed. I remember perusing those photos from Dubai in National Geographic just recently (while waiting to get my hair cut). That tennis court, you must admit, is pretty amazing.
The tennis court is amazing, the first picture I saw of it - I believe Agassi and someone were playing a match on it - made my stomach queezy...I imagined myself peering over the rail! The architecture is amazing and thrilling...and disturbing...for reasons already stated.
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