Peace And Animals: Finding Harmony In The World

Last updated on: February 2, 2022 at 3:48 am by Henry Karlson

Peace And Animals: Finding Harmony In The World 2022-02-02T03:48:52-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jim Forest: St Seraphim With The Bear / flickr

Christians use various methods, such as ascetic discipline, as a means for them to make for peace for themselves, and through that internal peace, they will be able to work for peace in the world. To work for peace is to work for restorative justice, to promote healing grace. Restorative justice is important because it produces the harmony necessary for lasting peace.

Peace is difficult, if not nearly impossible, to establish in the temporal world. There will be those who resist restorative justice and seek to disrupt the harmony which it is meant to bring. Accepting that things will not be perfect will allow us to hold honest expectations. We can do some good in the world and we should not stop pursuing it just because we cannot attain perfection. This is why we are told, “If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18 RSV). We should do what we can to make for as much peace as is possible in our lives, and not give in to despair because we will not experience any form of utopia during our temporal existence.

Ascetics realize that making peace with others means that they must look to their own lives, to see what they have done which works against the common good and the peace which flows from it and fix their mistakes. When they do this, they find miraculous things can and do happen. Indeed, such ascetics often find themselves at peace, not only with those men and women who they encounter on a daily basis, but with animals, and all living things on the face of the earth. This is why many saints are known to have special relationships with animals; they have found such peace within that they can and share the benefits of that peace with all creation. St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Anthony of Egypt, St. Jerome, and so many others have stories told of them which relate the extraordinary relationship they had with animals. It is not just the saints we know, but also many of the saints we do not know, saints whose names have not been left to us, whose stories nonetheless are still being told, which show us the great path which we should all take. We find one such story told by St. John Moschos, concerning an old man he encountered at the monastery of Abba John the Eunuch:

When we were at the ninth mile-post from Alexandria, we visited the monastery of Abba John the Eunuch for benefit <of our souls>. There we found a very old man who had been at the monastery for about eighty years. He had more compassion than anybody we ever saw, not only for men, but also for animals. What did this elder do? No other work but this: he would rise early and feed all the dogs of the lavra. He would give flour to the small ants, grain to the bigger ones. He would dampen biscuits and throw them up on the roof-tops for the birds to eat. Living like this, he left nothing to the monastery <when he died>, neither door nor window nor spy-hole nor lamp nor table. In brief (not to say it all and make the story too long), he left nothing whatsoever of the world’s goods behind. Not even one hour did he ever possess books, money or clothing. He gave everything to those in need, investing his entire concern in those things which were to come. [1]

This unnamed man found a way to make himself at peace with others by giving of himself to others with a radical, self-giving love that had him not think of himself but of others. He had nothing left to give when he died because he had already given all he had to others, human and animal alike. Even insects, such as ants, received the benefit of his love. This allowed him to truly be at peace, both within himself, and with the world around him. He kept the wisdom of the proverb to heart: “A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel” (Prov. 12:10 RSV). He was never cruel. He made sure all forms of live had their value affirmed and in this way he truly became righteous and a marvel for us all. While we do not know his name, we know him by his deeds. We know him as a true representation of the kind of peace which can be had within the world when we give up all self-seeking and live out our lives as one continuous act of love. This is not to say everyone is called to such extremes as he. We can live out our lives like him, following the extremes he did, but have no love, and if we did so, we would find no peace, but on the other hand, we could live our life filled with love, and do so in another manner than he, and through that love find peace. What is important is to recognize the relationship between love, justice, grace, and peace, and how we must bring them all together in order to be holy. We are to find a way to truly bring peace to ourselves and through ourselves, to our interaction with all others, no matter what form those others take. Sadly, this sensibility, common in ancient Christianity, is not so common in modern time. This means Christians have ignored their proper place in the world. They no longer see themselves as being stewards over creation, sharing the grace which they have been given to the rest of the world. Instead of caring for the world and all that is within it, Christians now thing the world as an object to exploit, and in doing so, they reinforce a way of life which runs contrary to the self-giving love which they are meant to live out; is it no wonder, then, that the world is in such a bad shape, since Christians have lost their way?

Yet in the last several hundred years Christianity has been hesitant, at times, to include animals in either its ethical or its theological systems. Without addressing the issue of “the animal,” Christianity not only lives in a potentially dangerous bubble, but it risks becoming increasingly narcissistic and marginal to the world as we know it, and as we are making it. [2]

Instead of seeing nature, and the animal world within it, as something to exploit, we must once again acknowledge our place in the world is meant to be one of mediators, working to raise the world up through the grace which we have been given. We must recognize, as many of the saints did, that animals have a value of their own, one which we should respect:

Animals are not our property or chattel, therefore, but our peers and fellow travelers. Like us, they have their own likes and dislikes, fears and fixations. They have plans and purposes as important to them as our plans are to us. Animals not only have biologies; they also have biographies. [3]

In various lives of the saints, we find saints befriending animals, and in doing so, we learn a little of the biographies of those animals, showing the truth of what Kowalski wrote. Thus, in the life of St Francis of Assisi, who cannot see love that St. Francis had for the Wolf of Gubbio, and the friendship which the wolf developed, not only with Francis, but with the villagers who took it in? Who, upon reading about the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov, cannot see the close bond St. Seraphim of Sarov had with the bear, Misha? They could not speak with and make deals with animals if animals did not have souls and destinies of their own. But once we recognize this, we must realize that animals have a value all their own, one which is not had merely by their relationship with humanity:

The first concerns the spiritual status of animals. That animals are subjects of a soul in the sense of being recipients of a God-given life is hardly controversial within Judaism. Without endorsing any of the complex theories of metempsychosis, it is clear from the biblical literature that animals have the ‘breath of life’ within them. This single insight is sufficient basis to challenge many of the contemporary, still largely instrumentalist or reductionist, ideas of animals as things, commodities, or resources just for us. Whatever precise value other creatures have cannot be judged by their relationship to humankind alone.[4]

The value various creature have cannot be judged by their relations to us alone, but it should include it, and in doing so, we should see that the relationship which exists between humanity and animals means we have an obligation to take care of and protect them. To do otherwise is to reject the duty which God gave to us, the duty to take care of the earth and all that is on it. We might not know and understand their inner spiritual life, but we don’t have to in order to see that they have one which should be affirmed by us. Nonetheless, as some saints show is, it is possible for some to discern at least a little of the spiritual nature and spiritual life of such animals, and it was this discernment which moved them to have a special relationship with animals. They found a way to communicate with animals. Even if the vast differences between each and every kind of animal and us means such understanding will only be partial, that some level of communication, indeed, communion can be had between animals and some humanity should be enough to confirm animals have a life and personal all their own, that they have their own wants and desires. Even if their interests and way of life is conditioned in part by their nature, ours is as well, and as we know ours is not limited by such conditioning, we should be able to see that theirs is not either. If we realize this, then we should realize our work for peace in the world, though it starts within, includes not just our fellow humanity, but every living thing on the earth.

[1] St. John Moschos, The Spiritual Meadow. Trans. Jon Wortley (Collegeville, MN: Cistercian Publications, 1992; repr. 2008), 153 [#184].

[2] Laura Hobgood-Oster, The Friends We Keep: Unleashing Christianity’s Compassion for Animals (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2010), 6.

[3] Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals (Walpole, NH: Stillpoint Publications, 1991), 107.

[4] Andrew Linzey and Dan Cohn-Sherbok, After Noah: Animals and the Liberation of Theology (Herndon, VA: Mowbray, 1997), 58.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

Previous Post

February 1, 2022

The Body Of Christ

Next Post

February 3, 2022 Banning The Proper Study Of History Promotes The Return Of The Sins Of The Past

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz