Have you seen a grizzly bear?  If so, you are fortunate.  They are not easy to find.  In the course of my mountain explorations, I've seen many, some at a comfortably safe distance, others way too close.  Regardless, grizzly bears are rather amazing.  Powerful and hulking, they lumber and roam through their world, master of all they survey, providing ecological balance for friend and foe.
     It's therefore odd to see,as I did recently, grizzlies in a zoo, exploring the trees and rocks set out for them, being bears before watching human beings, animals like us, animals still.  One wonders what grizzlies did before the Fall, before the world was broken, before the balance was toppled:  what were their lives like?
     We can only speculate.  But we can say this:  God cares about the grizzly bears now as as much as he did before.  He cares about everything else, too.  So does the psalmist say, "You, Lord, open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing."
     Of course, grizzlies remain highly fearsome and not to be taken lightly.  They are patently unpredictable.  When next you see a grizzly bear, however, be it in a zoo, book, or in the wild, be happy that they live, that they exist.  Be happy that you share in such a remarkable world.  Be happy that you walk in the expressions of a infinitely creative God.
     Be thankful that life is God's gift to you.