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my face must be all swollen & blotchy. i knew the moment i began to watch the video ( at the end of today’s post) i would be wrecked. honestly i should have known better but a rainy day with no one home. no one to see me sobbing from the moment i pressed play apparently seemed the thing to do.
years ago i remember sitting at a circus with my girls. i sat there & tried to hide the tears that basically proceeded to just stream down my cheeks nonstop. the crazy music and the smell of animals & urine & cotton candy was too much for me. i’m sure i was hot & my face was, without a doubt, swollen and blotchy. was no one else bothered inside that full arena? who knows. of course i had no idea, no proof, no anything really other than an overwhelming pain in my heart for what i assumed were the mistreated animals everyone was clapping wildly for. this isn’t an anti-circus blog post so no one needs to report me to ringling brothers but seeing those animals walking around a stupid circle inside an arena in downtown atlanta broke my heart in two. i swore that day that i would never ever attend or support a circus again. check.
i’m surely not the dian fossey or jane goodall in the world of elephants. for heavens sake. but these large beautiful creatures have always fascinated me. i guess they seem like gentle giants. and being a perennial rooter for the under dog, gentle giants -especially endangered mammals- fall into that category.
in the video shared below, a crippled shirley is introduced to jenny, another crippled circus elephant. shirley hadn’t been in the company of another elephant for TWENTY YEARS . and the response was one of the most beautiful moments i’ve ever seen. powerful redemption of two beautiful creatures. two over-comers. my goodness. tell me the symbolism isn’t lost on you either?
as i watched the video seeing who i assume was the keeper of shirley, one of the mistreated circus elephants, so tenderly say goodbye to her i was so overcome with emotion. he said – i’ll paraphrase: i don’t know who the first one was to put those chains around her, but i’m glad i’m the one taking them off. she’s forever free.
this beautiful massive mammal with skin sores and scars, crippled legs and torn ears….free. finally. two decades of mistreatment and exploitation. two decades of clearly not being treated fairly. finally free. and not only is she free, look at her ability to love. those chains didn’t rob the need for another, the love and bond she had with her kindred friend.
so the symbolism for me?
i couldn’t help but think of my own chains. your chains. things that bind us and keep us from living courageously, bravely, walking into the freedom that we have in jesus. the crippling addictions and fears, emotions and bitterness that tear apart relationships, scars on our hearts that come forth in the words we speak. chains to past hurts, some of which we can actually unlock but choose to leave on instead.
he came to set us free. he came to bind up our broken hearts. he came to set FREE not only us in our own issues but those enslaved & exploited. one day all will be made right. those chains will fall OFF those who are bound. that is a promise he gives us! i looked at these mammals, these beautiful powerful creatures, each with legs that don’t work as they should and their glory seemingly taken from them and i see a hope & a future. and i see joy rising up from pain. beauty from ashes. i know if you’re not an animal person you probably are thinking, what on earth is paige’s issue with the elephants. but i think sometimes Jesus loves for us to see his love through an avenue we wouldn’t have dreamed up on our own. and perhaps it was just a rainy day. and perhaps i was already sensitive and teary. and perhaps this is all too sappy for you. but there is nothing but truth in the verse i have shared below. and if it takes the visual of shirley’s trainer or water giver or whoever he was to be a visual to me of isaiah 61.1 then by golly i’ll take it today.
there is obviously more to the story of shirley & jenny. there are other videos off in the sidebar if you open the full link but my heart can’t take any more today. for today i’ll end here….
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me,
for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.
isaiah 61.1
CathyG. - Oh I love elephants!!!! This is just precious!!! Have you seen the film Black Fish? It’s about killer whales…. it made me cringe how many times I’d been to San Diego in Calif and had gone to Sea World to see “Shamu”…………and thought how wonderful!!!! Geeeesh I was so wrong………..
Lori H - Thanks for sharing this sweet story, Paige. I have always loved elephants…they seem so wise and gentle. God has put so many cool and beautiful animals on this planet. I have to think those who have mistreated his creatures will be harshly judged some day. It made me so sad to see the scars and torn ear on Shirley. Love that you saw this video as an scripture illustration. So apt.
Leanne - So, so, so beautiful!
Solomon was so sweet letting those chains go…. And the bath!
teresa bullard - You get it Paige and I get you. Kindness to animals and compassion for them extends to kinder, gentler, loving people in a more kinder, loving world. I have never gone to a circus that exploits animals and I never will. xo my sweet blog friend
Wanda Ammons - I cried, too, when I saw this video. Beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. When I was a tiny girl and we would visit the Atlanta Zoo, the “ecaphants” (I couldn’t say elephants) were always my favorites!
Kim I. - Good gracious, Paige – I cried my eyes out! And then on the side bar I watched several beagles walk on grass for the first time (they were lab animals) and cried, then I watched a beagle bark for the first time. Gracious! I’ve laughed and cried all morning – thank you!!
Brittney - Paige,
I’ve followed your blog for a long time and this post hits home with me. I am head keeper at a zoo. Daily I am overwhelmed with people have watched videos like this or watched movies like Blackfish and think what I do is torture. Trust me, the vast majority of keepers who care for these animals do it with nothing but love and compassion and empathy. I wish zoos didn’t have to exist. But they DO have to exist. Circuses may get the biggest bad wrap of all…but circuses bring thousands of children to wonderment and amazement and the love of elephants which transfers to the love of exotic animals. The only way to save them is to bring awareness. I appreciate your post. I too have sympathy for these elephants. Always remember that there are thousands of keepers who spend countless hours under harsh working conditions for very little pay to make sure these animals are cared for to the highest level possible. Does it compare to the wild? No. It never can, but the people who care for them do it with the best intentions and nothing but love.
Jan - I cried just reading your post. I never made it to watching the video. I can’t. Three things I can’t watch…
1. slavery movies
2. holocaust movies
3. animal movies/videos that I know are going to be sad.
To this day I’ve never seen Marlee and Me cause I know the dog dies in the end. I wouldn’t be able to take it. (extreme animal lover) I wish so badly I could see 12 Days a Slave, but again I can’t watch the abuse that those poor people got especially when you know it really happened (and continues to happen). Same with holocaust movies.
Needless to say I cried uncontrollably during The Passion of Christ. The suffering and pain he went through for us…oh my goodness. He REALLY went through that for us. Sometimes I think people think of his life as a story book tale that didn’t really happen. It did!
I’m going on and on. Thank you for reminding us of the different ways Jesus shows His love to every creature.
marcie - Oh my- I saw this a few weeks ago – during one of the snowstorms and I was right there with you, a sobbing mess. I was encouraged by their ability to love and show it after all of what they had endured. What big hearts, what a lesson to all of us. I, too, loved the trainers word when he released the chains. I read everything I could about the elephant preserve and their goal to let these elephants end their lives in peace and with grace.
We have a rescue Golden who came to us an abused mess and she is grateful and loving everyday – and needy. She is so different from our male Golden whom we chose and spoiled from day 1. He has never known anything but adoration. Our rescue is safe now and she knows it but the scars are there and I think she has a fear that lives in her forever. Watching them has made me think so many times about abused children and really any of God’s creatures who have suffered abuse at some time and how it cannot be completely erased but God bless the people who try and care and love those who need it most. Beautiful post and message about far more than elephants.