Daily Worship

Reunited

Laura Digan January 27, 2022 0 1
elephants_family_sunset_unsplash
Image credit: Unsplash
Listen to this daily worship

1 Corinthians 12: 27-31 (NRSVA)

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

I support a wildlife charity that works in Africa. This charity rescues and rehabilitates orphaned elephants. This can be a long process and keepers stay with the baby elephants in the stockades overnight and give regular bottle feeds to their little giant charges. During the day they take the nursery of baby elephants out into the bush and teach them what mother elephants would.

When the elephants grow older they then graduate from the nursery into the next stage for more autonomous living with elephants their own age. Their keepers still watch over them but at this stage elephant peer support is essential with little girls learning how to become mini-matriarchs and young boys learning to to be a bull as they play and care for each other. Eventually as they grow older the young elephants are given the freedom to wander wild unaccompanied by their human care-takers. They are allowed to return each night but eventually the call of the wild is so strong they don’t return and live fully free. However, to the keepers’ joy, very often elephants will return with their wild born babies, just to show them off to the keepers and the young elephants. What a wonderful homecoming it is. Then after showing off their babies the elephants will return back to the wild. We are all connected.

God’s creation is one body. The elephants know this as they return to show off their wild born babies to the keepers who loved and nurtured them. They return to show their babies to their family. The elephants understand we are all connected, why is it so hard for us to understand this?

 

PRAYER:

 

Father, we pray for all of your creation

You entrusted all life into our care, 

But we have neglected our responsibilities. 

Instil in us Father an urgency to step up and take upon us the responsibility you laid upon us. 

 

Amen