This week I heard about the boy who got into a gorilla enclosure at a zoo. People were pretty upset that the gorilla was killed to save the boy. One radio announcer said it was a sad day.

I thought, “Wait a minute. It was a great day. That boy was saved!”

People were looking to blame someone for this. They were blaming the zoo, and/or the parents of the boy.

But what about blaming the gorilla? If the gorilla had have had any sense at all he would have just protected the boy and not dragged him through the water – that’s what got the officials to act in such a decisive and final manner.

What was the gorilla thinking anyway? He must have known that his actions would look threatening to all who looked on, including the zoo officials who had a gun trained on him.

I’m not what you would call an animal lover, but I did have an iguana as a pet for seven years. And we had a turtle for about the same length of time. We finally gave him up to friends who had a young family.

I don’t know how Winston is doing now, but I still think of him with fond memories sometimes … poor little guy.

I guess what I’m saying is, I like animals; they’re nice. But I’m still a meat eater so I really wouldn’t consider myself to be a defender of animals.

There are those who love animals and would protect them at all costs. For those people, I guess it’s a toss up of who you would protect in the situation of the gorilla and the boy.

After all, it was the boy who was in the gorilla’s house, and he was in there uninvited. Though if a 3 year old could get in, I think the gorilla should have had a better locking system for his enclosure.

I understand the parents could have been charged, so maybe they facilitated the break-and-enter for the little boy.

If that’s the case, what have we been teaching our children for years, reading them stories about “Goldilocks And The Three Bears”? Clearly someone was guilty entering the bears’ enclosure while they were not home. Really, what kind of parents did Goldilocks have anyway?

If the boy was in the enclosure to steal something from the gorilla, I’m not sure what it might have been. There wasn’t much in the gorilla’s enclosure worth stealing – no valuables like electronics or jewelry … maybe some food, but I’m sure they could have easily got more appetizing food from the concession stands.

In our time it seems there’s a trend to put animals on the same level as humans. It’s like we need to speak up for them because they have a disability or disadvantage in communicating what they want.

After all, there are many people who think gorillas (animals) are people too.

Here’s the thing: God gave each human a mind, spirit and soul, because He wants to have a relationship with us. Animals are a wonder of God’s creative power, but humans were made in the image of God, to connect with God. The day that boy was saved in the gorilla enclosure was a great day because one who was made in the image of God was spared so he could reflect the image of God to others.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you plan to reflect the image of God to someone today? Leave your comments below.