Our Pets and Our Attachments

Everyone has a beginning of what it feels like to be attached and cared for........ or NOT. And then the Lord gave us "Pets"  (any domesticated or tamed animal that is kept as a companion and cared for affectionately)  When our human companions fail us, we can relay on our pets for love and comfort. From the beginning of their lives, young children will search for a pet to bring home and beg and beg until they are given a pet.  The instinct for attachment, to care and be cared for, is strong deep within us. 

I have recently spent many hours and emotional energy helping a woman separate from the unconditional love and attachment to her cats as she is now a resident of a nursing home because she has Huntington's Disease. She has a history of making her pets as valuable as children because they have served her in that manner. She once had rescued over 14 cats and gave them a home. She can easily identify them, report with detail all of their history and is patient to allow strays to come to her and warm up slowly.  (anyone who knows me, knows that warm up slowly would not apply to my temperament) I listened to story after story about which cat took care of another cat and kept it safe and who was a good mother and who was a risk for being picked up by gangs and abused. This has clearly been her purpose and I am grateful she is who she is.

I am grateful for every living animal and how they have made us better human beings. I am grateful for knowing what it feels like to be sick, either physically or emotionally, and have my pet move closer and closer to me and imply "I see you, you matter to me." I know the experience of having a sleeping cat on my lap and a full bladder in my body and my refusal to disturb the cat and break the connection so I can relive myself.  I know the comfort provided to me when I was grieving deeply for the death of my parent, when my cat would cuddle and allow me to cling to life.  I know the joy of seeing my cat come running in from the cold, feed her and take her upstairs to bed with me. I have felt the amazement of a cat finding "home", even as a kitten , after being given to another family.    
                                  
Our pets are often our first experience with vulnerability, dependency and responsibility.  They are very much like us in that they need connection. They desire intimacy and caring. They give meaning to our lives and can inspire hope. It is a mutual relationship. The internet is filled with videos of animals bursting into joy as they are reunited with their owners after a long hard separation.   There are extensive collections of one breed caring for different breed and other videos of animals lovingly working in service of those wounded and challenged by war, trauma and life.  Thank you dear creator for the pets in our lives.

And I want to thank all those whom are deeply committed to the vocation of "rescue"  (to free from confinement, danger, or evil)   because of you, I get to look good with my client and her family. But I do know the truth.  There are women and some men in the field of loving the lost and broken and unwanted pets. Many many organizations and the people who run them are devoted to this purpose- finding families for all in need of a home. 

1. "Home: the social unit formed by a family living together - a familiar or usual setting :  congenial environment; also :  the focus of one's domestic attention - home is where the heart is"

Question: "What does it mean that God gave humanity dominion over the animals?"

Answer: The word dominion means “rule or power over.” God has sovereign power over His creation and has delegated the authority to mankind to have dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:26). David reinforces this truth: “You made [mankind] rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet” (Psalm 8:6). Humanity was to "subdue" the earth (Genesis 1:28)—we were to hold a position of command over it; we were placed in a superior role and were to exercise control over the earth and its flora and fauna. Mankind was set up as the ruler of this world. All else was subjugated to him.

God’s command to subdue the earth and the animal life in it is a command to have the mastery over all of it. A true mastery (of anything) cannot be accomplished without an understanding of the thing mastered. In order for a musician to master the violin, he or she must truly understand the instrument. In order for mankind to attain mastery over the animal kingdom, we must understand the animals.

With the authority to rule comes the responsibility to rule well. There is an inherent accountability in the command to subdue the earth. Man has a duty to exercise his dominion under the authority of the One who delegated it. All authority is of God (Romans 13:1-5), and He delegates it to whomever He will (Daniel 4:17). The word subdue doesn’t have to imply violence or mistreatment. It can mean “to bring under cultivation.” 

Man is to be the steward of the earth; he is to bring the material world and all of its varied elements into the service of God and the good of mankind. The command to subdue the earth is actually part of God’s blessing on mankind. Created in the image of God, Adam and Eve were to use the earth’s vast resources in the service of both God and themselves. It would only make sense for God to decree this, since only humans were created in God’s image.

When God gave humanity dominion over the animals, it was in order to care for, tend to, and use those animals to their fullest potential in a just manner. At the time that God gave mankind dominion over the animals, humans did not eat meat (Genesis 1:29). Eating meat did not begin until after the Flood (Genesis 9:1–3), and it was at that time that animals started to fear humans. However, although God changed the way we interact with animals, in that they are now “meat,” we still bear a responsibility to treat animals humanely. Human rule over animals does not mean we have the right to mistreat or misuse those animals.

Having dominion over the animals should entail a humane management of them as the resource God has ordained them to be. We should consider that mankind was given the task (and blessing) of representing God in this world. We are the caretakers. We hold sway over all the earth, and we (bearing God’s image) bear a responsibility to act as God would. Does God misuse His creation? No. Is God unwise in His management of resources? No. Is God ever cruel or selfish or wasteful? No. Then neither should we be. Any misuse or mistreatment of God’s creation is the result of sin, not the result of following God’s original command. We must fulfill our duty to manage the earth wisely.