Author(s): Gary Kowalski

Animals & Nature

Why do elephants bury their dead? What makes birds sing and cranes dance? Do animals appreciate art? Do they know the difference between right and wrong? Do they experience awe and wonder? In a revised edition of this celebrated book, Unitarian Universalist minister Gary Kowalski grapples with the big spiritual questions around our relationship with animals: Do animals have souls? Are they aware of death and are they conscious of themselves? Do animals have an inherent capacity to recognize beauty and can they create art? Do animals experience love? Do they know right from wrong? Why do birds sing? And ultimately what do we lose in a world without animals and what does that mean for our ongoing relationship with the creatures with which we share the world? Kowalski offers beautifully written vignettes that shed light on these questions and much more. He explores how animals play, their sense of altruism and their capacity for love. By "de-sacralizing" animals, Kowalski argues, we make ourselves less human. "If we are to keep our family homestead - Earth - safe for coming generations," he writes, "we must awaken to a new respect for the family of life." First published 1991; this 2nd edition 1999.