Last Saturday, May 28th, at the Cincinnati Zoo, a 4 year old child slipped through the fence and fell into the mote surrounding the enclosure of a 450 pound, 17 year old silver back gorilla named Harambe. Harambe is the Zoo’s main attraction. Panic ensued. You can see the Harambee video
The safety crew of the Zoo acted instinctively. Not much time to think and rethink and then not react, so they sacrificed the gorilla. Sad for Harambee and the Zoo, not to mention the animal lovers of the world. But happy the boy is safe and wasn’t severely harmed.
Now, there are some folks saying it was the wrong decision, yet some say it was the ONLY decision that could have been made, some blame the Zoo and some want to blame the parents. I say drop the blame game.
I have a 1 year old grandson, who crawls on all fours like a turtle but is lightening fast, like the hare. Take your eyes off of him for a second and he is gone, I mean gone. Parenting, babysitting, child care giving is “100% eyes on the job”. Don’t believe me? Come on over for an hour or two and I guarantee young Hank will be out of site in a flash.
If I was in the mothers’ shoes, I would be thanking the Zoo director for saving my son’s life. I would not sacrifice my child for any reason. No one would. Absolutely no one.
FBI agents vow to “take the hit” for our President but never the other way around. I would take the hit for my spouse, children, and grand kids but I never would sacrifice them.
God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on a mountain top, in order to test Abraham’s faith and trust in God. I am sure I could not have done that, doubt that you could either.
Think about it, would anyone stand there watching Harambee in the water holding on to the young boy and say, “Go ahead let’s wait and see if he harms the child, and if the boy is harmed it’s ok I will sacrifice my son?”
And yet someone did just that. GOD did.
He sent his only Son, to be punished, scourged, whipped, beaten and crucified for us. Think about God’s pain. We often think about the pain and suffering that Jesus endured, but rarely do we think about what God must have been feeling.
Maybe losing Harambe will help us turn our attention to the One who sacrificed the most for us.
Amen