Never Forget

“…good planets are hard to find.” ~ Time Magazine

Their friend had died. He had lived a long time, over seventy years, but the weight of those years and a hard life in the fields, had finally brought him to a quiet end. His friends surrounded his body, and honored him with heartfelt mourning. They carefully touched the body. A tear trickled from the eye of the smallest of the group. Finally, after remaining still and quiet for a long time, they carefully covered his body; slowly, respectfully, almost religiously.

When they had finished they paused one last time, reverenced his place of rest, then quietly departed. Every few months they would return to the place, and each time they paused and reverenced the spot where their friend lay.

Elephants are the only species, other than humans, who have a recognizable death ritual. They show a unique respect for their dead, carefully burying their bodies (covering them with leaves or branches) and mourning their loss. Like us, elephants revisit the graves of their dead. They exhibit this same respect for the bodies of humans. Following the 2004 earthquake and tsunami elephants were used to locate bodies. Rescue workers were surprised by the elephants’ response when a corpse was discovered. They reverenced the body by allowing their trunk to droop, standing very still, sometimes making a wailing sound; mourning the human dead just as they mourned their own.

Faith is about being "in relationship", whether that relationship is with God or with our fellow man (or woman). Often our relationships suffer from brokenness, due to sin, insecurity, or self-centeredness and must be restored. This cycle of broken relationships and their restoration, is what some of us call practicing our faith. Reconciliation, attending Mass, making amends are all directed toward this important task of healing our broken relationships.

It is fairly easy to see ourselves as being in a relationship with another person. Yet, very few of us see ourselves as being in a relationship with the rest of God’s creation. That is to say the world we live in and the other creatures which inhabit it. It is humbling to consider that elephants, arguably the second most intelligent creatures on earth, grasp this concept, when most of us don’t. They seem to intuitively understand that the death of another creature is a loss to them as well.

On the other hand, we tend to look at God’s world and its creatures more legalistically. Our viewpoint is one of ownership. We argue over “water rights,” “mineral rights,” “easements;” “we take possession” of property. We even go so far as to sell “air rights”, the empty space above buildings in large cities. In point of fact we really don’t own anything.

As stewards we acknowledge everything is a gift from God, gratefully received to be returned to Him with increase. We cannot view these gifts as something to be owned; rather we must see them as a means by which we build a relationship with our God through their care and proper use. This means working to constantly improve our relationship with God’s creation: To be “the caregivers of creation” God called us to be.

We, as Americans, love causes. We like to get behind things and do good works in support of them. Whether it is making others aware of global warming, recycling at home or spending a Saturday morning picking up trash at the local beach or park, putting things right gives us a sense of accomplishment, but our relationship to the world goes deeper than that. We are part of something larger and greater than ourselves: an ever-evolving creation in which we participate and to which we have a personal connection…a relationship. Even our elephant brothers and sisters recognize this fact, even though we often don’t.

Dear God: Help me to build a better relationship with your creation.


“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” ~ A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold


© 2010 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.

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