Difficult Standards

I think I could turn and live with animals,
they are so placid and self-contained,
I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

(From I Think I Could Turn And Live With Animals, by Walt Whitman)

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. (Genesis 1:25, NIV)

The trouble is that animals present us with such high standards.

As Alfred A. Montapert said “Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal; difficult standards for people to live up to.” ―

Prayer- God, may we be as kind and affectionate and loyal as our animals. Amen.

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