Animal Suffering Part 1

There is a problem with animal suffering: we can understand that humans suffer because they invited it in. In a really short version that doesn’t do the topic justice, humans could have had perfection, but decided against it, trying to pursue our own elevation to God-likeness – (a hobby from which we never recovered). For that reason along with others, we can start to understand why human suffering takes place. However, animals never chose to leave God and follow Satan; at least not that we know about. They also cannot improve themselves from suffering like humans can learn lessons and become more like Christ. So why must the animals suffer? Aren’t they innocent and we are right to feel sorry for them?
I must interrupt my own thoughts here to say that we know very little about animals. God has told us about ourselves – humans, and even that much information is an overload to us. We can hardly hold the realization of ourselves in our hands without the pieces tumbling out and crashing on the ground. Let me show you this in the drama of my own life:
"I see I should have my devotions, so I do. Almost the minute I do, I realize I should be spending more time volunteering in my community. So I do. I also realize my need to be more kind to my enemies. I work hard at, and even though it takes real work, I sometimes succeed, but only to notice out the corner of my soul’s eye that I have now neglected my Bible reading again just as before! How can I do all that I am supposed to do? It’s not possible! What? Tithe? Pray more? Be more organized? Exercise more often? Spend time with my family? Volunteer at my church? Cannot do! I shake my finger at God and tell Him it’s His fault I didn’t read the Bible and that He’s overly demanding. Ironically, this is when I realize I haven’t worked nearly enough on my pride. Okay, I’ll work on my pride, but what about everything else? I truly can’t win. I truly can’t succeed. It is then that I am reminded that God doesn’t expect me to do it on my own and that He wants me to depend on Him. Okay, God – what do you want me to do right now? You’re in charge. What’s that? You say I should read the Bible more? Okay…I’ll try…" and it all starts over.
If we have that much trouble with juggling our own responsibility and position before God, it’s no wonder that He would find it completely unnecessary and unprofitable to tell us anything about His relationship with animals! I don’t see anywhere in scripture (though I wouldn’t be surprised to have to stand corrected) that would prevent God and animals from having intimate relationships and communication of which we have never heard anything about. But I digress…
This lack of information forces us to use the only knowledge we have on suffering – our own. And now, to assume that animal suffering and our suffering is the same is probably ridiculous. We say that plants prey on others, or that certain animals are more ruthless than others. The truth is that the things of this life have very little to do with right and wrong. It is only in choosing to not give God His rightful place that moral breeches are made. All other aspects of life are irrelevant to “goodness” or “evilness”. Since plants and animals do not make such choices, none of their choices is in anyway related to “badness” or “ruthlessness” or “heartlessness”. Actually I take that last one back. That is precisely what they are: heartless. That is a terrible thing for a human because the heart contains nobility and the very value of man, but heartlessness is a very freeing reality for plants and animals. They are incapable of sin because they are, indeed, perfectly heartless (again, as far as I can see). This only once again brings us back to the original problem: isn’t it unfair that animals suffer if they can’t choose to be evil? And this context is the foundation for Lewis’s claims about animal suffering.