A couple of pictures I came across in magazines that touched me.
The first is of workers in a knife factory in France, taken around 1900. The craftsmen lay on their stomachs all day to sharpen knives as it was easier on their backs (the whetstones being out of sight, below their platforms). The workers would bring their dogs to work not only for the companionship but to keep their legs warm as they worked. You can see two of the dogs resting between their masters' legs. What a great picture (credit: the Orvis "Sporting Gifts" catalog, Holiday 2008, p. 30):
The next picture is from the Small Farmer's Journal (Winter, 2006, p. 29), from an article entitled "What You Can Learn from Your Horse" by Hartmut von Jeetze. The author had worked for many years in England at a home for juvenile delinquent boys -- a sort of working farm where the boys gained discipline and maturity by participating in farm work and responsibilities for caring for animals. This picture was probably taken a number of years ago given the dress of the boys, but I love what it conveys. You may not be able to see clearly in this photo, but both the boys are wearing ties under their farm work clothes -- so typically British. The small horses look scruffy -- delinquent? -- themselves. Perhaps the boys and horses bonded so well because of their similar backgrounds and temperaments. The author gave many examples of the power of animals to change boys for the better. After describing one such event he wrote, "Who thinks that horses and oxen do not know what goes on in your mind? It is of immense value to have the chance to learn from such events." Think how many young people today (and old) are completely missing the experience of being psyched out by a "horse or ox" or other animal in a farm-type setting. The (apparently) mutually respectful and peaceful relationship between humans and animals, described in Genesis 2:19-20, has its last remnants in the small farms of the world. How much better we would all likely be to maintain contact with such settings. Don't hurry past this picture until you've thought for a moment about the redemptive power of animals in these two young men's lives -- the acquisition of close companionship and love, perhaps for the first times in their lives.
The first is of workers in a knife factory in France, taken around 1900. The craftsmen lay on their stomachs all day to sharpen knives as it was easier on their backs (the whetstones being out of sight, below their platforms). The workers would bring their dogs to work not only for the companionship but to keep their legs warm as they worked. You can see two of the dogs resting between their masters' legs. What a great picture (credit: the Orvis "Sporting Gifts" catalog, Holiday 2008, p. 30):
The next picture is from the Small Farmer's Journal (Winter, 2006, p. 29), from an article entitled "What You Can Learn from Your Horse" by Hartmut von Jeetze. The author had worked for many years in England at a home for juvenile delinquent boys -- a sort of working farm where the boys gained discipline and maturity by participating in farm work and responsibilities for caring for animals. This picture was probably taken a number of years ago given the dress of the boys, but I love what it conveys. You may not be able to see clearly in this photo, but both the boys are wearing ties under their farm work clothes -- so typically British. The small horses look scruffy -- delinquent? -- themselves. Perhaps the boys and horses bonded so well because of their similar backgrounds and temperaments. The author gave many examples of the power of animals to change boys for the better. After describing one such event he wrote, "Who thinks that horses and oxen do not know what goes on in your mind? It is of immense value to have the chance to learn from such events." Think how many young people today (and old) are completely missing the experience of being psyched out by a "horse or ox" or other animal in a farm-type setting. The (apparently) mutually respectful and peaceful relationship between humans and animals, described in Genesis 2:19-20, has its last remnants in the small farms of the world. How much better we would all likely be to maintain contact with such settings. Don't hurry past this picture until you've thought for a moment about the redemptive power of animals in these two young men's lives -- the acquisition of close companionship and love, perhaps for the first times in their lives.
Bookmark this post on Delicious
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment