Originally... there was solitude!

Lions, Elephants, Dinosaurs, Goats, and... Dragons?

Hey, I loved Pete's Dragon just as much as the next child of the 80s raised on the Wonderful World of Disney, but I'm not sure the Dragon belongs in the Animal Kingdom. There is certainly one obvious omission from the silhouetted creatures on this logo, the human being.

Most people would not even blink at the fact that man was not selected to be pictured on this logo and thus considered a representative of animalia. There are some out there, however, who claim that indeed man is no more than a mere animal. According to them we are simply a more advanced creature, but a creature none the less, and certainly not any more important than any of the beasts of earth, water and sky (I was so tempted to say earth, wind and fire and leave it at that).

IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO...

"So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man." Genesis 2:19-20

It is in this event that Adam realizes quite how different he is from the animal kingdom. The Lord allows Adam to name the creatures, a feat that could only be accomplished by a human being, setting him apart. Now clearly there are plenty of similarities between the human being and the animal world, yet not one of the animals "proved to be the suitable partner for the man." Whatever similarities there were, they were not greater than the differences and so Adam felt alone.

Initially it is the physical differences that strike him. There is someting peculiar about who he is, an essence that only he has. And it ain't just about having opposable thumbs. It's about his purpose, his meaning. It's about a need for a relationship with the God whose likeness he was made in. This was original solitude. Man standing alone, having dominion over all the creatures of the world.

Mankind is one of a kind. It is written into our bodies. The things we are capable of doing, the things we are drawn to, are all a sign that we were made for something bigger. All our intricacies and complexities speak volumes. And there is nothing on the planet that compares.