Do Cows Get Cold?

Do Cows Get Cold?

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

So many things I’ve never stopped to consider, Lord. But You already know that, don’t You.

It’s about twenty-five below today, but You know that too.

I’m on the second floor, Lord, looking down upon the cows this morning. You know well where I am, but I just thought I’d mention it.

The watering trough is right below. The snow trodden pathway cannot lead astray as to the right and the left are piles of snow. They’d get stuck if they wandered off that path. But wait! Can it be? It looks as though a skid-steered walkway has been prepared for them. Their keeper knew their needs, didn’t he, Lord. He’s their caretaker and so…he knew well. Reminds me of You.

But skid-steered pathway or not, it’s still twenty-five below. Do their fine ankles feel the cold beneath their hooves as they trod? None are huddled together that I can see. They hay bale it or kick up their heels all playful like every so oft. Another makes its way to the trough for drink all lathered in a light layer of frost atop its coat. Can the beast beneath it feel the cold upon its back? I wonder.

So many things to wonder about as we wander upon this earth.

Last night, together, my husband and I opened the mail. A wonderfully tempting catalog dropped into our laps. “Great Courses,” it was titled. $35.00 each is what it was calling loud and clear. Each DVD offered several lectures on many a topic. A pile of savings was what was advertised, and like kids in a candy store, we drooled over the possibilities. So much knowledge we yearn to learn.

As we’d gotten rid of the “Dish”…we now have time to wish what it is we’d like to spend our time on, and our minds were eager. Newsworthy this was and so…mid-January…late in the evening…we each made our choices.

He chose “Early American History,” and I one on Italy. He treasures our country and those who have forged its foundation, while I treasure my dreams of street-side cafes with fresh-cut flower vendors nearby. Together we will sit mid-winter, in the warmth of the cold and wonder what more there is to know. So much more no doubt there is.

And I am forever grateful that there is always more to see, to understand, to wonder about as we wander about. You have created that wonderment within, haven’t you, Lord. But, then again, You know that well because you tell us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). That’s a wonder in itself.  Amen.