Plants and Animals in God's Plan

I've been thinking more and more about the donkey talking to Balaam and what that means for animal intelligence and how we ought to treat them.

It really seems to indicate that we need to increase the respect we have for all of God's creations. I'm not advocating we all become vegans or anything; I think it is important to note that the donkey does not express any resentment over her position as beast of burden, but rather specifically criticizes his thoughtless treatment in the one instance. God said in D&C 89 that he had created both the plants and the animals for the use of man but cautions that they are to be used with prudence, judgement and thanksgiving.

Still, what would our pets say to us if they could speak? "Stop kicking me"? "Your son keeps shooting me with a BB gun"? Or would they say, "you've been a responsible owner who has treated me with the
dignity of a creation of God"? What would our yards say? One of the first commandments given to Adam was to tend the garden of Eden, to take care of it, and he was given dominion over all the animals, and responsibility for the earth. Those commands pass to us as his progeny. What will the resources of the earth tell God about our personal comportment towards them when we stand to be judged? I am not speaking of the treatment of mankind collectively, I am referring to our individual behavior.

There are people who blame mankind for the documentable increase in global temperature over the past century or so. There are others who deny that mankind is the culprit; some go so far as to deny that the world is experiencing climate change at all. I find the debate interesting to watch.

Scientists document increases in temperature and say it is due to the rise in use of this or that technology with a harmful side effect. They invest heavily in alternative technologies and push for a shift to the new stuff. Politicians respond to lobbyist pressure to impose changes to the product or a shift to the new product. Whether the activists invested because they believed in the new stuff or they pushed for the new stuff because they had invested in it is a moot point. The interesting
part to me is that nothing seems to impact the climate change. It still happens.

The scandals that surround those trying to prove the changes, the willful ignorance of those who refuse to acknowledge that there used to be a glacier covering most of Ohio, the retrofitted models, the Hollywood fervor created with movies about the end of the world caused by human mistreatment of the planet--none of this is relevant to the fact that we have an individual responsibility imposed by divine command to take good care of this world and to have stewardship over the animals on it.

I'm not talking about joining the Al Gore sensationalist bandwagon; I'm talking about pruning our trees, mowing and watering our lawn, and planting flowers, gardens, and other things to beautify and give variety to the face of the earth. I do not mean joining the vegan movement; I mean taking our dogs for a walk, avoiding over-eating or over purchasing, causing waste, not abandoning animals for which we have assumed responsibility.

We need to feel and express gratitude for all these things. Feeling it is something internal, but the expression is demonstrated in whether or not we litter when no one is looking, hurt an animal because it is funny or consume more than we need.