he whispered "Mom! Look at that cardinal!"
Sure enough, there was a cardinal couple flitting around the yet dormant tea roses. The daddy was bright red and very, very busy, prancing around the mama who seemed anything other than interested.
It reminded me of the spring dance scene in Walt Disney's Bambi, when the Owl talks about spring time making everyone "twitter-pated." It was a a great way to finish off the boring bowl of granola that morning.
I watched the cardinal couple for the past few days and it got me to thinking....
About things.....
About the way God created the animal kingdom & how the mating practices of animals are similar to that of men, but so very different....
As far as I can see, from my very limited and amateur perspective, it seems as if in the animal kingdom, it is them males who are the most beautiful, the most elaborate, the most visual, while the females are muted, demure, & more camouflaged.
For example, our cardinal on our back wall.
The lion in the Sahara,
The peacock from Asia,
The mallard duck in North America.
In all of these couples, it is the males who are the most ornate, decorated, elaborate, for the purpose of attraction, primarily, of their lady counterparts. They puff up, bristle, flaunt and even flounce to make sure that the ladies see them.
Once they have a mate, that process doesn't end either. These males use their beauty to ward off danger, to protect their families, to simply grace the world with their beauty, and they embrace their role.... as much as an animal can.
But that's very different than they way we humans operate. Some where along the way, something got messed up.
Maybe it was the fall of man.
You know the story. Adam & Eve in The Garden. She is created so that he doesn't have to be alone. There are some trees for food and some trees that are off limits, per the One who gave them this perfect place to live. But, perfection isn't enough for them when they think they are missing out on something. Together, they decide to compromise. Just one bite. One for her. One for him and trust is broken.
So, here is my wonder for the evening.....I wonder about what life was like in The Garden before the bites that broke the trust, and brought the curse. Was Adam the one who was most concerned with impressing Eve? Was his stance one of beauty, bristle, flaunt... in order to impress & protect her? Was she the one who was permitted the peace that comes with not having to impress? Was she allowed the protection of simply being all that God designed her to be without effort?
Was it that bite of deception that turned our existence upside down? There is the report of the curse women & men as well endure because of that culinary choice, but how much is not revealed in the Word? Without speculating, we simply don't know.
This is what we do know. Mankind is certainly different than the animal kingdom when it comes to courtship. Men are not responsible for attraction at all. Yes, yes, for the most part men at least are interested in smelling clean, looking nice, & presenting well but nothing to the extreme of their animal counterparts or even women for that matter!
When Dave & I were dating his ritual for date preparation consisted of little more than a shower, shave & a clean t-shirt, 20 minutes & done. Meanwhile, I would begin my preparation for the evening at least an hour or so before his arrival. It included shower, hair (just right), make-up (coordinating), outfit (perfectly planned for the evening's events), shoes, jewelry, outerwear, perfume, accessories, and the list goes on.... I was exhausted before he even arrived. One of Dave's favorite sayings then, and even now a dozen years later is "Man, I'm glad I'm a man."
He's got it easy, him & most other men on the planet. It is women who seem to have assumed the responsibility of primping for the purpose of attraction. There is little else we use beauty for. I can't help but wonder if beauty was meant for so much more... more than simply attracting a man. Proverbs 31 reminds us that "beauty is fleeting" but Psalms talks about "the beauty of the Lord."
I can't help but wonder if The Fall has even affected our perspective of beauty, it has effected everything else, literally.
I am, however, thankful that I have a husband who loves a blank canvas and I may have created a bit of an animal so to speak. After years of refining, he now takes longer than me to get ready to go anywhere. He is "twitter-pated" and I must admit, it is so much easier to relax and be myself..... Blank canvas that I am.
But maybe that is the way that God intended it to be anyway.
In the meantime, staying close to the dust of the Rabbi, until I can ask Him myself,
~Christy
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