The animals are leaving!
A favorite small town nature museum is about to get a make-over. But maybe not for the best. Currently on display are more than 50 mounted and stuffed wild animals ranging from a beaver to a bison. They represent life on America's plains and frankly, they are magnificent.
I never tire of crouching down and locking eyes with a trio of coyotes. Processing the span of a wolf's paw is enough to bring a shudder. And peering at a mountain lion up close jerks one into a fresh reality of the killing machine these creatures can be.
But most of these beautifully preserved animal displays are about to disappear in a nod toward modernization. They will be replaced by interactive displays–touch-screen monitors. In the world of museums, this has become the de facto standard.
The new displays will share more information, but they will largely insulate visitors from a proper sense of wonder. Providing more information in the information age might be like dumping water into a water fall. We already have enough, thanks!
What we lack is a capacity for wonder. In fact, I'd call it an endangered species. Wonder is so rare, we don't miss it—and don't know that we should.
It's almost as if curators and others are afraid to let us draw our own conclusions about the animals. Or they fear that because the mounted bison currently on display doesn't spin, flash or make noise, it will fail to capture our imagination. Not so.
Gauging that the back of a bison is as tall as my head is a wondrous reality that comes not from peering at an HD screen, but from standing next to the real thing. I say, let’s learn to ponder the real thing and leave touch screens for video games.
Give awe some space. Let it marinate in time–and wonder is the byproduct.
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name is your name in all the earth.” –Psalms 8:1