(Creature callings…towards a spiritual ecology…from a dream i had last night!)

Animal dreams: The whole world is a dust bowl now!

I’ve been dreaming lots about the creatures lately. I’ve thought lots about a spiritual ecology for years, as I was shown there were three neglected areas of Christ Lordship in His church: sight (imagination), soil (our relationship to the earth), and skin (our proper relationship to our physical bodies). I’ve seen the gaps in all three areas, especially within Christianity, as it’s been lived out. And I’ve felt Christ’s Heart to enter more deeply into each of these three areas! So this dream was welcomed! It was about how the animals are confused now.

Animal dreams! After seeing a Marin county beaching of the largest types of whales in the world this week during the day, this one evidently hit by a cargo ship, i had this dream at night…

So, here’s another thing my dreams were talking about last night. Nothing I hadn’t heard before, as someone connected to the animals my whole life, but a good reminder:

Care for animals is close to the heart of God. Not everyone is called primarily to creatures, but God is always there with them. Concerned and hovering over and with them. In my dream, there was a sheer presence and atmosphere of care around the many displaced and confused animals in the world. It was tangible Presence.

In my dream, the animals were confused by our chaotic global behavior. Whales and sharks were in the wrong places. Horses running through city streets. Turtles on rooftops. The dream was surreal in its displacements. The geometry of the animal kingdom was eschewed by our poor governing. They were living signs of our rebellion against the actual nature of Reality. Our authority trickled down over them into a shattered expression.

After the flood, my dream reminded me, God also made a covenant with the earth itself. He has direct relationship with it.

Especially in our times of so much human displacement. He leans into what is uncovered and weak. Those with a calling to the creatures are near to God.

In my dream, I saw many animals wandering untended during all these global crisis. Wandering in bombed city alleyways, and sleeping in abandoned trucks along our borders. Some were ravenous for lack of food, others just confused by lack of order. My dream said that need some Noah’s now to haven the creatures in love and order, and kindness. Good dream reminder! I’ve always wanted to be a Noah, which is probably why we have way too many rescued animals, and I walk around talking to birds often. Nice to be reminded that God does too.

One character in the dream, a hawk tender, said to me: “It’s not just to feel guilt, and act from that motivation, rather it is to find and see The Face of God in the creation. We don’t merge with them, we merge with God. And when we do our motivation is not guilt, but to love what He Loves.” Great quote. I wrote it down even in the dream! Keeps us from earth worship.

There’s a poignant photo taken by Dorothea Lange of a white horse running through the dust bowl. It captured what happens when humans are displaced and can’t tend the creatures. My dream was like that but the situation was amplified to the whole planet. Time for some Noah’s in the midst! Nice dream reminder! “Care for the weak, God is always there,” as one monk put it. Creatures included. For, the whole world is a dust bowl now!

Stewarding the animals in the midst of our chaos is a calling now my dream said to me last night. Noah and St Francis were whispering through this dream. Good reminder! A single sparrow is never forgotten. Not to mention a hawk or horse, fox or tortoise, or even us.