Good News…August 1, 2024
Oh, deer…
I was eating breakfast on Tuesday when I received an early morning text. The saying is true that “good news sleeps till 10”. The text was from Rev. Ball over at Calvary Baptist church. It wasn’t good news. We had a large dead deer on our property behind the Wesley building.
Apparently, a car hit a mama deer, and she stumbled about halfway up the Wesley lawn before succumbing to her injuries. We now had a large, dead animal on our lawn. I wondered what we were going to do about it. Call a neighbor? Phone a friend? Call animal control?
What made this situation more difficult was that there were three fawns wandering around. There’s nothing sadder than babies trying to understand why mama isn’t responding to them. I’m very glad preschool was not in session! As I finished my coffee and cereal, more calls and texts poured in about the dead doe and her wandering fawns. The dead deer dilemma sparked a lot of conversation.
Finally, animal control came out and removed the mama, but the fawns were not cooperative. A couple staff members tried to help but to no avail. I kind of hoped we wouldn’t catch the fawns. What do you do when you catch them? Who would care for them? Is it legal to bring wild animals home with you? I’m not a callous man, but I don’t think we need more deer in the city of Madison. I’d let nature run its course.
Later, I discovered nature’s course is not completely cruel.
A church member told us that she saw those fawns earlier as part of a larger herd or family. I didn’t know it at the time, but deer often adopt the young from other does. Apparently, deer are naturally adoptive. The instinct to care for other fawns, even though they are not from your deer family, is a great gift of our creator. Could we learn something from this?
The apostle Paul uses the idea of adoption to remind us that we are all part of the same family. “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27)
We are called to care for others as if they are part of the family. Teachers are caring for our students even though we are not blood related. Fire fighters rush to the flames even if we come from different family trees. Law enforcement serves and protects the community, no matter your pedigree.
We sometimes forget that we are from the same herd. Remind yourself of the lesson of the deer we found this week.
Peace,
White Tailed Deer Fawn in Meadow
