three perspecitves on

::: giraffes :::

{subtitled: we're sorry we're a little wordy.}

I.
jed

The Giraffe Thing

The bible shows us that there are many things we can learn about God from the animals he created. Because God sent two of each kind for Noah to put on the ark, we are reminded that each has a mate. When the Lord answered Job's complaint, He cited his control over the Behemoth dinosaur as evidence of His power. Christ taught that sparrows show us God's sovereign care over even the smallest of His creations. Jesus frequently used the symbol of sheep to show that we are rather helpless like them, but the Lord is our protective, wise, loving Shepherd. The Prophets picture Christ as a Lion, the King who will one day return to judge and reign over His creation.

But what about the giraffe? Nobody knows what to make of the giraffe. When the modern system of classifying organisms was developed in the 19th century, we still didn't even know what it was called, so we combined two animal names we did know, like the Romans had done, dubbing it camelopardalis. We eventually settled on giraffe, from its Arabic name ziraffa, which means "assemblage." There was still the problem of what family to place it in. The deer family? The cattle family? Is it a horse? Maybe a leopard with those spots? The taxonomists basically gave up and made Giraffidae its own family.

In literature the giraffe has become a symbol of the exotic, the mystic. It defies explanation. Near the beginning of our relationship, Julie and I read an essay that offered a theory of what we might learn from the giraffe. The author described the giraffe as so exotic that it almost seemed alien, otherworldly. When you gaze upon one, it can completely ruin you.

We liked the essay so much and discussed it so much, that on Valentine's day, I gave Julie a small giraffe figurine, as my way of saying that I sensed something sublime, something otherworldy developing in our relationship, even though we were both still skeptical of the whole thing.

Julie and I are both like that. We are contrarians and skeptics. When something is asserted in conversation we immediately, instinctively try to come up with some counterargument. No matter what it is. You say the sky is blue? We say maybe that is only because of how the nitrogen in the atmosphere bends light, but is it really blue?

We even approached our relationship with skepticism. Even though I always found Julie to be fun and easy to talk to, I never really thought about dating her. When Julie and I first hanging out together and spending some time together, I told her rather bluntly (and awkwardly!) that I just wanted to be clear that I wasn't trying to start anything. I had been praying and thinking a lot about marriage, and I had a nice time talking with Julie, but I also had all sorts of preconceived notions about "what I need in a woman" that I didn't think Julie fit. The feeling was mutual.

After praying and thinking some more, I began to see Julie in a new light, and told her I was going to ask her dad for permission to date her. She balked at the idea. She thought I was some sort of old-fashioned weirdo for wanting to go about it that way. I had also tried to explain to her that I didn't even believe in "Romance" because ultimately it is a pagan concept tends to make love into a confusion of passions and feelings, rather than the biblical idea of love, which is an act of sacrifice for another. In case you are wondering, that didn't go over too well at first.

Julie was skeptical too. She did like me from the start and we had a good time together, but I can't tell you how many times she said, "We could never get married." There were a hundred reasons. I was too old. I was too serious. We were too opposite, etc. But we had been attracted to each other in the first place because we like to argue about things, and some of our friends said it was only a matter of time.

Despite our differences, I was pretty quick to embrace the mystery and commit to the relationship. I could see that we balanced each other out. There were plenty of times when I doubted or wavered, but it wasn't long and I told her I hoped it would lead to marriage. This only caused Julie more consternation, that I would be so direct and so quick and so determined. I decided that all I could do was just be patient, keep working at it, and see if she came around.

Somehow she did. We had lots of laughs together and yes, "romantic" moments when we caught our breath. We fought and made up. We overcame challenges and grew deeper in our understanding of each other. Julie went from "We could never get married" to "Do you really think we should get married?" to "We should get married!"

Now we are excited to say that we look forward to living the rest of our lives together. We see that God has been leading and guiding and blessing our relationship all along, despite our doubts. Although there might be ecstatic feelings of joy one day, followed by trepidation and dismay the next, we have a calm confidence that if we love each as God instructs us too, and depend on Him in faith, we will experience His grace that carries us through the tough times in life and makes the good times even sweeter.

Even now we sometimes look at the fact that we are in love and getting married and wonder how it happened. Love is a bit of mystery of course, sort of like the giraffe. It ruins you somehow when you stop and look at it.

The author of the essay we read suggested that the fact that we can't explain the giraffe is precisely the paradoxical point. The giraffe is an illustration of the wonder and mystery of God. And Julie and I find that as we embrace the mystery of the love God gave us, it does teach us more about him.

Sometimes we are still skeptical that it is all happening. But that doesn't change the reality that it is! God really did make marriage to teach us deeply profound things and show us His nature and His glory in ways that we could never comprehend otherwise.

As the Giraffe Essay argues, we must embrace the mystery of a God who would make a giraffe. Otherwise, we will never experience true Power, Playfulness, Beauty, Personality, Irony, Humor, Freedom, and Unity. You should read it.

II.
julie

i am sure i have witnessed many minor miracles in my time (as if any miracles are minor). God provided so wonderfully as we moved to Peoria, His grace was so evident when we found out daddy had cancer, and I can see many ways in which He has kept me and given me grace which I do not deserve--not the least of which in making me His child through Christ's sufficient work on the cross.
but, if you were to ask me if i have ever witnessed any miracles personally, i would first mention my third-senior semester in college. i was in Nashville for a journalism conference and i found myself flipping out in general from, as i recall, pre-graduation (aka i-have-no-idea-what-i'm-doing-with-my-life!) and from life in general. as i was walking around a corner downtown there, in the middle of downtown Nashville and country music and motorcycles and homeless people and business people and crazy buildings and traffic, i found:
. . . . . a camel.
. . . . . in downtown Nashville.
. . . . . and he had a ring of flowers around his neck.
. . . . . and he had a name: bo the camel.
there were a bunch of priests and page boys were running around in magenta instead of white, and this was all happening in front of this absolutely beautiful episcopalian? [sp?] church, and the animals were going to church: it was the feast of st. francis, so they were there for a blessing. and a whole church service. and that makes sense, i suppose. i always heard that you should never turn down prayers or blessings, where ever you can get them. kindof like hugs or something. but once in a while, you just have to turn down hugs, if its sketchy enough.
i cant explain why this was a terribly important event for me. but it was. it really changed my whole weekend.
perhaps its something like this: the camel on the sidewalk was completely unexpected, and the last thing i ever thought i would see in the middle of Nashville. it was ridiculous and odd and strange. but at the very same time, there was something very right, and sensible and _wonderful_ about it--of _course_ the camel would be going downtown to church! it was the feast of St. Francis after all.

the same is true of the giraffe. the giraffe, according to the article we read together back in the day, is an odd animal--it doesn't fit into the categories they had set up previously for animals to fit in. It isn't like any of the other ones. but it makes us pause, doesn't it?
the article we read asserted that the giraffe reminds us of playfulness & curiosity, beauty & personality. In these things, we see evidences and glimpses of God. Without the grace of God (both general & specific), all the best things in life would cease to exist--we wouldn't be able to take pleasure in a perfect sunset, a great meal shared with our dearest family & friends, or even the smell of freshly mowed grass, the lights at Christmas or {insert favorite thing here}. The giraffe is just one more reminder to add to those echoed throughout all of everywhere--there is a great Savior, and his love is marvelous, rich and free.

It is a small wonder, i think, that anyone ever gets manages to get married. everyone is so quirky and strange, not to mention self-centered, sinful, and not at all prone to forgiveness, kindness, respect or anything else that makes up true love (in any form). for anyone to be able to love is an extremely remarkable occurance, and we know that its only possible because God first loved us. As we love each other (in a marriage relationship or otherwise), we are also able to get a clearer picture of God and his lovingcare for us, and our right response of our submission to him and reverence for him.

[ for the ENGINEERS:
if A=giraffes, and B=God and C=marriage, then A=B, and B=C, then A=C. right? ]

I suppose that love is like Bo the camel & the giraffes (who don't have names. but if one was to name a giraffe, what would it be? George?) I was certainly surprised to learn that i was, quite possibly, in love and wanted to get married--and even more surprised to learn that my thoughts on the subject actually coincided with someone else's thoughts about me--and it was the same person! (you know how hard that is to do? usually you decide you want to marry someone right about the time they decide they are madly in love with someone _else_).
(imagine my bigger surprise, and subsequent freak out when i found out what the technical name for the giraffe is: giraffia camelopardis. possibly my two most profound miracles are already connected, by some accident of science, or whatnot. i know, right? its almost like it was meant to be, and this scientific, hard-to-pronounce name was the sign. except we don't believe in signs.

So, going to the zoo and seeing the giraffes (and camels, although, sad to say, they do not come with flower chains around their necks in the wild), will always remind us of these great mysteries. And sitting on our ghetto porch, learning how to cook together (right, we have no idea how), taking walks, reading & studying together, having a family, and sharing all these moments with each other, and everyone else we love best, and so on and so forth from now and till forevermore (relatively speaking)--we will have all of these, Lord-willing. And we will have love, "tru wuv," as the impressive clergyman in princess bride says. All of these will be our miracles. And all of these things will remain, in some form or fashion, and the greatest of these is always love.


III.
the original:

Spoiled by the Trinity: A Primer for Secularists
Douglas Jones