Peaceable Kingdom

It was hot yesterday morning, and as I hurried to fill the bird bath and feeder before work, there was a surprise waiting for me. From just behind the bird feeder, a bobcat sprinted a short distance away and laid down.

We watched each other warily at first.  I was ready to run for the house at one false move. These creatures are extremely fast, and a rabid one should not be taken lightly.  Then the bobcat settled down to his business, and I to mine.  He stayed when I went in the house, came back with my camera, and took some shots.  

After a small yawn, he thumped his short tail on the ground several times, then settled in for a good cleaning up.

I got out the hose, scrubbed the bird bath, filled the feeder, and watered the raspberries while he was cleaning up, then turned back to wrap up the hose.  When I looked again, he was gone.

My first guess, of course, was that he was sick, though he appeared to be well fed; bobcats are very nocturnal and have a natural fear of humans.  We're not excluding the possibility, however, that, since we were gone much of last week, he got used to this place when we weren't around and considers it part of his hunting grounds.  I can only speculate how often he may have watched us from the shadows.

We impact our surroundings, sometimes in ways we don't intend.  We feed the small creatures, who congregate, and at times, by this, become more available to predators.  And though we always root for the smaller ones, we have no illusions that we have any control over the outcome.

A wild hen turkey has been coming around lately with one darling poult, a far cry from the average hatch of twelve.  This bobcat may have warmed his belly with some of the eggs, or the small poults.

Such is life on our beautiful planet, and things like this remind us that there's something broken about this world, that, as hard as we try, we can't fix.  As Christians, we anticipate the day when Jesus will reign as king and all of nature will be at peace.  

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat, 

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

 and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra's den, 

and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy 

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:6-9

Linking with Tuesday Muse
and Camera Critters

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Beyond the Sunset

Just after sunset last night, God opened the clouds, soaking the thirsty ground and sending deer to the cover of the woods.  From my vantage point on the front porch, the sound took me back to a hot summer when I was young.  I could see my cousin Gayetta, standing outside in her bathing suit, her head tilted back, mouth open wide, arms outstretched.  That girl loved the rain.


Yesterday's storm lasted less than a half hour, and afterwards, I drove west across the lake to see the sky.  Billowing clouds towered overhead, colored by the lingering light of the sun.  It was like a glimpse of heaven, and I watched until the last golden cloud had faded overhead.  


Driving home, up our driveway, my headlights caught a small fawn thrusting its head through the hog-wire fence, trying to get out of my path.  Once in the garage, I walked back to check on the little thing.  It hadn't moved far from where I saw it, but it seemed more relaxed, and its mother stood nearby on the other side of the fence.  The fawn ran a short distance and then stood watching me.  As I turned toward the house, the doe effortlessly bounded over the fence and joined her fawn.


As beautiful as it is here, we are continually reminded that we are not in paradise yet. The prophets in the Bible wrote of a new earth where:

The wolf will romp with the lamb,

the leopard sleep with the kid.

Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,

and a little child will tend them.

Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,

their calves and cubs grow up together,

and the lion eat straw like the ox. 

The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,

 the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.

Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill

on My holy mountain.

The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,

a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.
Isaiah 11:6-9 (MSG)

And then there's this treasure:

...how blessed you will be,
sowing your seed by every stream,
 and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Isaiah 32:20 (NIV)

No more fences!  But until them, we'll revel in this beauty, and worship Jesus, our Creator and King, and content ourselves with watching the little fawns growing strong and jumping the fences.