The following contributed poem gives one person’s view of what the future may hold. It is written in the unusual non-riming poetic style of Hebrew songs and poetry that emphasizes cadence and thought patterns.

Animals Our Wards
(A Personal Hope)

God’s word tells us He’s appointed us stewards
Over earth and all that’s upon it.
And while we were the last to be given life,
We are His first on the ground.

He said ‘Take the earth and subdue it
And care for all living things.
Don’t misuse the trust you’ve been given,
And fill the earth with offspring.

‘I’ve appointed you over the fish in the sea
And birds that fly high in the sky.
Before you all living creatures must bow,
And I’m entrusting them into your hands.’

But man had a better idea
And listened to lies about God,
When the Opposer came and then told them
It would be better if they’d disobey.

He told them that God really lied,
And they could also be gods,
If they would eat of the fruit of God’s tree,
The one that He told them brings death.

So, they did what he said and they strayed,
But God had really not lied,
They gave up their lives as the stewards
O’er earth and all living things.

To whom did we then relinquish this charge,
Since the earth had been given to no other?
To the one that lied and o’er earth became god,
And created the world filled with badness.

From that point on all life wandered,
Without headship or reason or rime.
And mankind forgot their commission
And killing their wards wasn’t crime.

Without asking, they killed and they ate.
As friends, they gave up their place
To stalk and become hunters of prey.
So in fear, our wards run from man.

Then God brought the water to kill all bad humans,
Save Noah, his family, and select wards.
Remains of life were thereby preserved,
But animals drowned for sins not their own.

After the downpour God reasoned,
‘There’s no changing what man’s become now,
So, I’ll make laws to control it,
Then change it all back in My Day.’

So, he said; ‘You may kill and eat if you must,
But give back their blood to the ground.
Or else they may come and also eat you
And take back the lives that you’ve taken.’

From then on, all lives were shortened,
And Nimrod made killing a sport.
Then mankind forgot what God told them,
Eating their blood with the meat.

Although God gave them men as their masters,
The wards could now kill and eat them.
And lions, and bears, and others attacked
As men then became their fair game.

Now, eons have past while unnoticed
Has been this unnatural path.
For we hunt and we kill those given to us
While they hunt and kill the same way.

What else could we hope to expect,
For we their masters have set the lead.
So, though I eat meat I know it’s not right,
And it surely will change in God’s Day.

You think it’s no so and say it won’t be?
‘Where are the scriptures?’ you ask.
And I reply, ‘We were promised
That pain, sin, and death will be gone.’

‘Ah, that’s the death of humans,’ you say,
‘The scripture applies just to us.’
But when there’s no death, or crying, or sorrow,
Won’t the deaths of our friends then be mourned?

Why, wasn’t it God that had told us…
Yes, weren’t they His very own words:
‘In all of My mountain so holy
They will not harm or destroy?’

Who knows what can be done with the aid of God’s Breath?
Will we someday return what we once took as sport?
For, after man is once again righteousness
Won’t there still be an earth to subdue?

Or will God turn our wards into robots
And force them to do as He wills,
While we make more pens for the slaughter
And think of our wards just as our food?

What has brought me to these conclusions,
Since I once thought as most others do,
That it’s man alone who knows who he is
And animals by instinct just choose?

Time and again I’ve been taught
By beasts who have their own minds…
By dogs who think and see for the blind
And by apes who speak with their hands.

By birds with brains, like parrots that talk,
And feel sorrow when they’re left alone,
By beasts with trunks that mourn for their dead
And dolphins that joyfully play in the sea.

Can a farmer truly look in the face
Of a pig, or a cow, or a chicken,
And not see trust, or love, and then fear,
Or suspect something more is inside?

O foolish man, what are you thinking?
You’re all blind and you cannot see,
That intelligent life’s all all around you,
Yet you think it can never be.

The problem is that we don’t know our God,
For we think of Him wanting all glory,
While the Bible gives proof He shares freely with all,
Just ask Moses, or David, or Jesus.

For Gods we’ll be made in our domain;
The lands that we will inherit,
Be that Earth or Mars or some distant place,
Wherever our God will then send us.

Then our wards will also know joy,
And living with us will bring pleasure.
For we in turn will come to know love,
And find ways to make their lives better.

Perhaps we can keep our pets as our friends,
Through ages and eons of time.
And just as our life comes from our God,
By God’s Breath perhaps we may help them live on.

For, if to give life you were given the power,
Wouldn’t you use it with care?
Wouldn’t you use it to help all those whom you love…
To allow them more time on the ground?

But, how will lions, and bears, and snakes
Ever be stopped from their killing?
O perhaps God’s way is to show us
The types of choices that He’s had to make.

For, just as some men wish not to change,
This will surely be true of some creatures.
And maybe our job is to decide which will live
And which will have to be gone.

It was God who says that the lion
Will eat straw like a cow or bull.
So, why would the Bible say such a thing,
If it weren’t God’s plan for the earth?

Can the teeth of lions adapt to eat grass?
 ‘God knows,’ is the only true answer.
But it was He who said ‘The snake will eat dust,
And no meat will it eat thereafter.’

‘But soon there’d just be too many…
We’d be overrun with rabbits and cats.’
The same could also be said of us humans,
But we trust that God has a plan.

‘Tell me; Is there a heaven for dogs?
There surely must be such a place.’
‘No,’ I reply, ‘perhaps something better.
To return to this earth in a much better time,
And possibly live on forever.’

‘You fool are you kidding? That’s for men not low creatures.
Must God now remember each squirrel?’
I really don’t know the answer to this,
But there are those that we’ll always remember.

Then who will decide who returns and who won’t?
Is that again in God’s hands?
I don’t know the answer or know if it’s true,
But if it’s true, it’ll be in your hands.

Then you start giggling and laughing at me,
For I remember those that I’ve loved.
‘You’re a dreamer; you’re so immature;
Would God ever grant such a wish?’

 ‘He knows each sparrow that falls,’ said Jesus,
And why would He know for no reason?
For, if He remembers enough to remake us from scratch,
Can He then remember no more?

‘Oh, what of ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas,
Will they also not die?
Where would it stop with each toad and each fish?
Will predator and prey soon be gone?’

The answer my friend is; ‘It’s all in your hands,
For He’ll leave it all up to you.
It was He who made us the masters of earth
And everything under the heavens.’

Perhaps the root of our problem
Is that in our pride we’ve made a mistake.
For we think that they were made for our pleasure,
While we were created to watch over them.

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