Jack named the Animals.

  silver backed jackal

 

Female Lion

 

Leopard Tortise

Zebra and Wildebeest Stampeding

27-Jan-2012 (even if it gets posted later)

Today I was blessed to go on a safari ride with (among others) Jack McAllister, Payton Taylor, and a Tanzania guide name Urio.   Jack and Payton know the names of nearly all the birds and animals on the Serengeti, and Urio knows the ones that Jack and Payton don’t.  You don’t just see the well know animals, the lions, the cheetahs, the elephants and giraffe, but they point out the bat eared foxes, the striped hyenas, the leopard tortoises, the steppe eagles, and the violet crested rollers.  The experience reminded me of Genesis 19: 

     “So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”

            Jack, Payton, and Urio would name each animal, an tell us a little about it.  Knowing the animals names is the beginning of understanding the difference between the animals, and understanding their natures and their needs.  Learning the names of the animals is the beginning of meaningful stewardship of the natural world.  Likewise, meeting our human neighbors in need in Tanzania (or anywhere else in the world) is the beginning of understanding their natures and needs.  Meeting our neighbors is the first step in becoming better be stronger brothers and sisters in Christ.

Blessings,

See you all soon,

Bruce