The Wrong Environment

The pastor at the church we attended this Sunday used an interesting illustration. He had us picture a relatively familiar sight: a tiger pacing back and forth in its enclosure at a zoo. He asked us why the tiger was pacing, and then suggested that the reason might be that the tiger was in the wrong environment. It wanted to be out, roaming free on some grassy plain in Africa, but instead, it was in captivity and confined to a relatively small enclosure. Zoos can be great places, but they are no substitute for the wide-open savanna.
 
I’m certainly no tiger, but I also pace. Often you can find me on the phone pacing back and forth while telling someone exciting news, or perhaps being a guest on a radio show. I also pace when I speak at a church or other public event. It seems to help me think more quickly, although one would be hard pressed to find a study showing that linkage.
 
However, the pastor’s comment got me to thinking about another type of pacing. As humans, we “mentally pace” as well. It may come from the frustration with a job, a troubled marriage, a rebellious child, financial woes, or many other sources. We go back and forth thinking about the problem, wishing that things were otherwise.
 
I believe that when you and I mentally pace, we are like our tiger – we are in the wrong environment. Our head is in the wrong place and our thoughts need to be on a different plane. That is not to say we forget about life’s challenges or avoid them, but we need to go back to that place where we first came from – our true home environment.
 
As humans, our current environment is this earth. It has fabulous things, horrible things, and everything imaginable in between. But you and I are pacing, seeking that home environment. Thankfully, for those of us who are Christians, we know where our home environment is – the place we came from and where we are longing to return to.
 
When I was a child, I watched the movie Born Free. At the end of the movie (spoiler alert), Elsa the lion, who was very close to being sent to a zoo, is given one last chance and set loose on the savanna to fend for herself. It’s difficult for her after being in captivity so long, but she slowly adapts. Eventually we find Elsa acclimated to her new home, even reappearing later with a family of cubs. Elsa is finally in the environment where she belongs. As a movie watcher, you breathe a sigh of relief when you see the peace and happiness now present in her life.
 
Sometimes we feel like the lion in that cage: pacing back and forth. But as Christians, we need to remember that our true home environment is not the cage in which we find ourselves now, but instead, it’s the majestic fields of heaven. When we reach those fields, we can finally stop pacing. We can rest. Like Elsa, we will be home.