Hi, there! I’m Rev. Jaime Nieves, also known as “The Creature Preacher.” It’s really nice to finally be able to meet you and chat with you here, in this quiet, reflective, safe space.
Come to think of it, I’ll bet you probably already know me. You probably saw me many times at your elementary or junior high school. The shamed, embarrassed little girl who wasn’t ever dressed in the “coolest” clothes and was teased and called names because of it? That was me. The confused little girl who was pushed, shoved into doors or closed lockers in the classroom hallway by the bigger girls? That was me. The terrified little girl who was repeatedly threatened to be beaten up? That was me. The hopeful little girl with no self-esteem who would do whatever the popular girls would tell her to do just so that she would be liked? That was me.
You saw me in all the faces of the bullied boys and girls in the periphery of your youth, and no doubt saw my story played out over and over again in their unique situations.
Growing up I was timid, shy, fearful, and desperately seeking acceptance by the “in” crowd. I was friendly (to my detriment, sometimes), accommodating, and loyal, so I couldn’t understand what I had done wrong, or was doing wrong to cause people to not like me. Worst of all, I didn’t know how to find my voice to stand up for myself.
Even though I’m an adult now, that sweet, lonely, frightened little girl of my past still lives in my shadows and in my nightmares. She clings to me tightly, hopefully; because she knows that I totally get – and have felt – the echoing depth of her pain. She looks up at me wistfully, counting on me to protect her and to be the strong voice of advocacy she never had.
I know how it feels to be bullied, abused, and helpless. And while it may sound crazy, those bad experiences have somehow been mysteriously and divinely transformed into a “gift” that has allowed me to genuinely empathize with God’s beautiful creatures who are living – every day – in the same suffocating prison of torment and abuse.
Is it such an incredulous leap to imagine that an abused dog, cat, horse, pig, or cow might be thinking, “What have I done wrong, or am doing wrong, to cause these humans who said they love me to not love me anymore?” We know that animals can and do feel the same emotions as humans. If you’re wondering whether animals truly experience the emotions I’m describing, a recent study shows that animals can feel emotions just like we do. This scientific evidence only strengthens my belief that we must treat animals with the same compassion we would offer to our fellow humans.
So why then, has our current society seemingly become so impassive to the blatant abuse and mistreatment of animals without any real concern for their emotional and physical well-being? Is it because we see so much of it so often that we become numb to it? Or do we assume that someone else will do the right thing and report the abusers because it’s “not my job”?
This might be a good time to grab a Bible and ponder Jesus’s message in Matthew 25:31-40. Is it such a stretch to believe that these dear creatures might feel as frightened and sad as I did as a child? But because they aren’t human and on our same “intellectual level,” does that make their suffering insignificant? Absolutely not. At least, not according to God!
For those of us who claim a belief in God and proudly call ourselves Christian, we know from the first Creation Story in the Book of Genesis in the Bible that after God created each “stratum” of the world and universe, “God saw how good it was” (CEB translation). God saw “how good” the animals and creatures God created were in Genesis 1:20-26. And God saw “how good” the humans were that God created (Gen. 1:27-30).
Note how that last verse of Genesis 1 reads: “God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good” (Gen. 1:31a – emphasis mine). Unless I missed it somewhere during pastoral licensing school or seminary, or in my 17 years of pastoral ministry, I never saw one scripture in the Bible where God said that humans were better than the other aspects of Creation, or that humans were God’s “favored part” of Creation. God loves each and every part of Creation equally and fully.
I believe that we – meaning humans, nature, animals, all the creeping things on the face of the earth, water, sky, mountains, fields, and even our precious world herself – are all interconnected with each other and interdependent upon each other. We all need each other to live the abundant, full lives that God desires for each of us. I didn’t miss the part of the Bible where God gave humankind stewardship of everything on the earth (I know the Bible uses the word dominion, but I don’t like that word; I think it’s a ridiculously obsolete concept and too easily tends to give humankind an arrogant, cruel pass to treat animals and everything else “under” humankind in cruel, inhumane ways).
Doesn’t it make sense to you that God would want us to care for the creatures of the earth and the rest of Creation in the same way that God cares for us? With love, respect, patience, gentleness, forgiveness, understanding, kindness, compassion, and mercy?
Animals have no voice to ask for kindness, mercy, love, and respect. But I have a voice. Animals have no agency to ask for patience, gentleness, understanding, forgiveness, and compassion for themselves. But they have me. And advocating for the grace-filled treatment of all animals and God’s Creation everywhere is what I plan to with my ministry… for as long as it takes… and until we realize that we, the animals and us, are in this life together. So let us covenant to be here for each other.
