Maybe The Animals Can Teach Us

I have a book on one of my bookshelves that I am delighted to have in my possession.
It is a reprint of an 1836 original.
The book was written by Noah Webster.
Yes, that Noah Webster, the man who compiled our dictionary.

The book is called, Lessons From Nature For Youth.
The back cover has a synopsis of the book that is a treasure.
It was a book that was used in schools.
It was a book that taught children valuable lessons they could learn from the animals.

For years, American education pursued the philosophy set forth in Job 12:7: “Ask the animals and they will teach you, and the birds of the air and they will tell you.” Consequently, students discovered many admirable character traits through their study of nature. In this reprint, youth can learn…loyalty from a buffalo, discernment from a  grasshopper, gratitude from a lion, honesty from a woodpecker, and many other lessons.
(Lessons From Nature For Youth, back cover)

Aesop agreed with that premise since many of his fables use animals to teach us a lesson.
I came across a video with a mother duck that could teach us a thing or two about motherhood.
My eyes filled with tears as I watched.
The maternal instinct was so strong and so true.

A mother duck is on the side of the road with one little duckling.
Two uniformed men are fumbling with a grate in the road.
It seems that her ducklings are trapped in a storm drain.
The storm drain is on a busy road with cars going by the entire time.

How did the ducklings get in the storm drain?
Did they fall in as the mother duck tried to cross the road?
Whose car is parked along the curb with the emergency flashers blinking?
Did that person call for help?

I had more questions than answers until I watched the video.
The how did not matter.
However the why mattered greatly.
Why did two grown men go to such trouble to rescue little ducklings from a storm drain?

An animal lover would not even think twice.
Of course the ducklings need to be rescued.
There is more to it than that.
There is testimony about motherhood in this story.

God gives us examples of motherhood in His Word.
This mother duck was an example of an attentive, loving mother.
She was at the mercy of the two uniformed men.
She would not leave until her ducklings were safe beside her.

The mother duck seemed to instinctively know that the men were there to help her.
She waited patiently.
She retreated into the tall brush that was nearby.
One by one, the men rescued the little ducklings from the storm drain.

With bare hands they reached inside the large pipe and painstakingly pulled them out.
At one point, one of the men leaned into the drain to grab another duckling.
He was in the storm drain up to his waist.
His legs were the only part of him that was visible.

There was another storm drain directly across the street.
One man was over there doing what he could to coax the ducklings to the other side.
After each duckling was found, the uniformed man carried it carefully to the waiting mother.
The ducklings nestled close to her.

The mother duck knew that all of her ducklings were not there yet.
She sat and waited.
How did she know?
She would not leave until they were all with her.

What instinct did God put in each of the animals so they know how to take care of their young?
There was no other explanation.
At the beginning of the video, there was only one little duckling.
At the end of the video, there was a total of seven ducklings.

The mother duck waited until all seven were safely by her side.
The uniformed men put the mother duck and her ducklings in a carrier of sorts.
They carried them to the water’s edge.
The mother duck knew that she was near the water and flew away from them.

She began to swim in circles.
Her little ducklings followed without any coaxing.
A mother duck and her seven ducklings were safe thanks to two uniformed men.
Anyone who watched this unfold learned a lesson or two about mothering.

I was saddened as I watched.
I thought of the millions of babies who would not know this kind of love.
I thought of the millions of babies who never had the chance to be born.
I thought of the millions of babies whose lives were snuffed out in the womb.

I was sad because what was so instinctive to the mother duck is challenged in our culture.
We have leaders that proclaim the unborn child has no rights.
Our nation is in peril if we so blatantly disregard life.
We are killing our future; we are trying to wipe out the image of God.

There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. (Charles Swindoll)

Two uniformed men spent a great deal of time rescuing ducklings from a storm drain.
They put their hands in unclean water in order to protect life.
To what extent do we go to protect the life of an unborn child?
How well are we doing if we call ourselves pro-life?

Pro-life does not just mean from conception to birth.
Pro-life means from conception to natural death.
Pro-life means helping the young mom before, during, and after the birth of her baby.
Pro-life means helping her put the baby up for adoption if need be.

Pro-life means getting your hands dirty.
Not dirty with the blood of the innocents.
Rather dirty with hard work, involvement, advocacy, and protection of the unborn.
There is a lot to do.

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7-10)

Maybe the animals can teach us.
God says they can.