This summer’s fauns have outgrown their spots and are leaping and playing in the cooler weather around Possum Kingdom Lake. A family that lives year-round near the lake feeds the deer, and so they have multiplied and and stayed in the area. The fauns are especially fun to watch as they play together. Their thin legs look almost too fragile to support their little bodies. Though they are quite bold, they can and do run very fast for cover if we get too close. Most of their activity seems to be for sheer fun, curiosity, and fellowship. Sometimes their gracefulness and beauty take my breath away.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds; and God saw that it was good. ( Genesis 1:25)

Many centuries after God created the animals and called them “good,” a man after God’s heart also saw goodness in nature. David wrote, As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul pants for God, for the living God. ( Psalm 42:1-2) David saw the deer as an inspiration in his psalm, of his own yearning for the “living water” that God alone supplies. I believe that at the Creation God knew and intended that we would, like David, find a reminder of our invisible God in His creatures.

The deer find their way into other scriptures as well: Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.”( Song of Solomon 2:9)

In the Old Testament, deer were some of the “clean” animals that the Hebrews were allowed to hunt and eat. They have been food for human beings since the fall, but their appeal is in the reminder they display of the work of creation, and the Father who loves them even more than we do.

The deer at the lake stare at me as I stare at them, and then with a flick of their tail they wheel and dash away. They’re not really tame deer, but they are accustomed to the presence of people as long as we keep a certain distance. They have no idea of what an inspiration they are to me, but their Maker knows.

Love in Him,

Prue