I took a day off this past Sunday to rest with my family. We started by getting loaded up on empty carbohydrates at Starbucks to prepare us for our day. During our breakfast, (which consisted of donuts, pastries, and multiple cavity causing chocolate drinks), my daughter wanted to know why we weren’t going to church that day. I told her that God commands us to rest. I explained that God made everything in six days and on the seventh day, he stopped, looked at everything He made and called it good. That’s exactly what we were going to do. We were going to go take a look at everything God made and call it good…at the Zoo.
We had a wonderful time, though we did experience our fair share of “are-we-there-yets?” Upon arrival, we walked to the gate, flashed our membership card, and started our adventure. We started with the fish and then moved on to my son Calvin’s favorite: the monkeys. He was hoping to witness some poo-flinging, but thankfully the monkeys were too tired for any physical activity. We also got to see a napping tiger and a snake that was longer than our Ford Expedition. (For the record, I am not a fan of snakes, and I’m especially not into snakes that weight more than me.)
The last animals we looked at were my personal favorite: the Walruses. These animals are amazing. They are fat, they have whiskers, and they swim right up against the glass, which is really freaky if you hold your face right up against it. Our next stop was a lunch on the grass. A tortoise named Pivot decided to join us, which was quite entertaining. His shell actually folded so that birds would not eat its hind legs. I’m sure glad I’m not a tortoise!
As we were leaving the park, I noticed an overpriced sign on display in the gift shop window. It read: “Enjoy the serenity of nature.” Needless to say, it was colored with various shades of soft colors and looked like it was created by someone who either had the munchies or had spent too many hours staring at the rocks waiting for them to grow or speak. Either way, the sign was dumb.
Before I go off here, I think it’s important to state that words have meaning. When we use words, we are trying to communicate an idea or a thought. But not all words are used in a helpful way. In fact, some words, (maybe most?), are used without giving much consideration to their meaning. Or in other words, some words are employed in ways that communicate ideas that simply are not in line with the way things are. This sign was a great example.
The word serene means peace, tranquility, and calm. The word nature means the physical world including plants and animals. The overpriced gift shop sign used the words “serene” and “nature” together in such a way that the word serene was used to qualify the quality of nature. Again, this sign is dumb.
I had just spent hours looking at nature from behind thick glass, steel cages, and giant cables. I was kept from coming into direct contact with nature at each and every site in the zoo. Why? Is it because nature is serene? No! It was because nature wants to eat me. The snake would have loved to curl up around my body and I’m quite sure he wouldn’t quit even if I tapped out. The tiger would play with me like a dog plays with a chew toy. The walruses would crush me into the sides of their aquariums if they didn’t tear me limb from limb first. I’m not sure what the poo-flinging monkeys would have done, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have been nice. What’s the point?
Words have meaning. Words are placed together like Lego pieces to construct something bigger than themselves: a thought or an idea; a sentence or a paragraph. What we say with our words makes a difference, even if it doesn’t make sense. I’m not sure who made that sign in the gift shop. I’m also not sure what they were trying to say. But I do know this, nature is not serene; at least not now. If it were, we wouldn’t need cages, steal cables, and large glass windows at the zoo to protect us from it. Zoos are good with animals, but not with philosophy…at least their gift shops aren’t.
1 comment:
I can kind of see your point. Indeed, nature often commands respect. But, I think that if you give it the respect it deserves, it can definitely be serene. It is an area by which I often feel the awesome power of God the most. Although I did not see the sign you are referring to, I think it's a bit overboard to call it "dumb" strictly by the words written on it.
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