Choir Notes

All Creatures Great and Small
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4183

A young man returned home from college for the holidays. First to greet him was the family dog, who bounded across the room and began nuzzling at his hand. The mother, with a twinkle in her eye, said, “I think he missed you even more than we did!” The scene is familiar in all those homes that include a lovable pet.

Animals are an important part of so many households—more than half the homes in the United States have a pet who is a valued member of the family. “Feed the cat” is regularly listed on the children’s job charts. Some go to extremes. Winston Churchill always insisted that the butler lay a cloth on the Persian carpet and serve dinner to Rufus, the pet poodle, before those at the table began to eat.1

Pets can contribute to the quality of our life. They have a way of putting a smile on our face and a spring in our step. Be it Rover, Spot, or Whiskers, pets love unconditionally; they accept us; they don’t judge. Put simply, they make us feel good.

Yes, an overprotective dog may bark at passersby or a hamster may get lost in the heating vent. But who can gaze at an aquarium of fish and not feel the stress begin to lift? Who can care for a pet without feeling a sense of purpose or fulfillment, a relief from loneliness or isolation?

Even those who don’t own pets can benefit from this type of relationship. Visits to the zoo or the county fair or placing a bird feeder in the backyard are ways we share this earth with “all creatures great and small.” As the poet Cecil Alexander reminds us, “The Lord God made them all.”2

1 See “Churchill,” The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes, ed. Clifton Fadiman (1985), 125–26.

2 “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” Children’s Songbook, 231.