Animals and nature, or how to find lasting peace

William Northcutt is a writer for the State Gazette and former Professor of English at Dyersburg State

I was touched the other day when a very busy man approached me and said he’d read my column about my sweet dog Keevo. He exclaimed, “You’ve given me a cliffhanger! How is your dog?” He has more pressing concerns, but he has taken time out of his life to think of us and to wish us well. He expressed his love for and interest in dogs. I told him Keevo is having a tough time of it. However, I try to remember the adage “While there’s life, there’s hope.”

Of course, I love all kinds of animals, and so do a lot of my friends. Many have pets at home that sleep with them and whom they baby. I’ve gotten to know some of their animals, either through social media or in person. When their babies are sick or die, my heart breaks for them. I love their pets too.

It’s vital to my survival (and maybe yours too) to love animals and nature. I’m not saying, “Don’t hunt, and don’t chop the trees.” We need, unfortunately, to control wild animal populations, and we need timber.

Oftentimes, the best care for animals is to keep a distance and leave them alone. That hedgehog is cute, but it needs the wild, not a cage in your bedroom. A cobra won’t welcome your hugs.

It’s important to love animals and to love plants and the environment, not just because we need to take care of this planet, but because of what it does for us mentally, or if you want to phrase it this way, spiritually.

Life is tough. It’s a struggle for most of us to run a house, keep up a vehicle, provide for a family, pay for clothing and necessities, and just to live. But no matter what struggles we face, getting back to nature by expressing gratitude for and kindness to the natural world—these can lessen the pain of heartaches, pain, and mortality.

Watching puppies roll on the ground, getting twigs in their fur. Seeing squirrels squirreling up trees. Hearing horses neigh as their hooves clop. Listening for coyotes. Enjoying the songs of all kinds of birds. Opening your heart to the dove’s hollow whistle. Happiness. Feeling the bark or leaves of a tree in quiet solitude. Happiness. Staring at a pond or river. Watching waves whitecap. Feeling the cool water of a cold spring on our faces. Happiness. Walking through thick woods. Grabbing handfuls of dirt. Seeing insects crawl on blades of grass. Counting lightening bugs. Hearing the sounds of crickets screeching with their leggy violins. Watching the sky for sun, moon, clouds, rain, or stars. Swimming in a clear and deep creek. Smelling freshly mown grass or hay or wild onions. Happiness. Happiness. Happiness.

And these touch something quiet within us. As the poet William Wordsworth said, when we’re back in the bustle of life, nature of the memory of these things will fill our hearts with pleasure. I extend that to our love for animals. It’s hard not to find comfort in the sights of nature and its gifts that keep giving.

And we are animals. Christians are commanded to love everyone. Non-Christians know too that love is the answer to many ills. It’s not easy, and of course we will fall short, but to love each other, the non-human animals, and all of nature’s gifts—to love is best for our own sense of peace and happiness.