Balance

I hope everyone had a safe and amazing 4th of July!

For the last few weeks, my brother and I have been incubating a clutch of eggs from my brood of chickens. This is only our second try. The first one was a bit of a disaster! I incubated eight and none of them hatched. Actually, we had one explode and stink up the house! Not a good experience. That smell is awful! But to sit and watch for 3 weeks, hoping and praying they are viable and to not even have one hatch was a bit of a disappointment. Yet after that disappointment, we found that the chickens were laying their eggs - of all places - in the burn pile! So, we decided to try again.

It's so fascinating. When you candle the eggs, you can see the baby chick's stages of development, it's growing, and moving, and changing. It's so much clearer in some ways than what you see on an ultrasound. With these, you can see the babies, the veins, everything. I thought for sure I would be grossed out, but I shouldn't have worried. Blood and guts have never bothered me. It's the smell that turns my stomach and probably why I gave up pursuing a career as a veterinary technician after less than two years. Smells have always been magnified for me.

Anyway, it's amazing to see the development in real time. I can't have children, so my farm animals having babies might be the closest I ever come to experiencing anything even close. Chicks are adorable when they're born. But then they grow into chickens. Chickens are the dumbest birds on the planet - in my experience, anyway. They have no sense of self-preservation. They will literally stick their head through the fence, even if there's a vicious dog on the other side. One of my hens did that and the dog's teeth snapped closed right where her head had been moments before. Sheep aren't much better. They have a higher sense of self-preservation, but are not that intelligent, either. And we have both.

Animals are an interesting study, though. They're so innocent, relying on instinct alone. Sometimes it reminds me of young children, just starting to learn about the world. It's not surprising that animals are the center of a lot of stories. It doesn't even have to be a fantasy where the animal walks and talks. Sometimes, just chronicling their lives and their many antics is enough to garner interest.

But exploring this subject made me think. Every species has a cap on their level of understanding. You can have smart dogs, some that do amazing things, but it only goes as far as what they're capable of. Sharks are intelligent, but they still follow instinct. Animals might feel some level of emotion, but they don't have the cognitive capacity to feel regret for their actions. Not like us. That's why when people say someone is acting like an animal, they're in essence saying they're acting like a fool. They're not acting with clear thought of the consequences.

But I said all of that to highlight the fact that God created the world so intricate that every piece has its place in the system to maintain balance. The prey have instinct for flight, the predator the instinct to hunt. Even though an animal might attack us, we are never their main source of food. We possess all the same attributes that their prey usually has - the blood, the sinew, the meat - but if their main staple is nearby, they will always choose that over us. Why? Because God told Adam - and in turn us - that he had dominion over all living things. And God never lies.

This Friday the cycle of conception to birth will close and I will have a batch of newborn chicks. Any life is fascinating because it is just more evidence of how much God loves us and all of his creation.