Picture this: As the sun beats down on the dusty African savanna a mother elephant gently carries the limp body of her baby to the shade of a baobab tree. She lays his
lifeless body in a shallow pit she has scraped in the ground beneath the tree. The sad mother then buries her baby, stacking rocks and scraping dirt over it's body. She may charge another elephant who gets too close to her dead baby.
Like individual people, each elephant reacts a bit differently to the death of a loved one. Elephants sometimes stroke, pat, or sniff the bodies of a relative, a mother, sister, daughter, or child, who has died. Sometimes they visit the place where a family member died just as people visit the graves of friends and family. Maybe they, like people, draw comfort from these visits.
An elephant may pick up the bones of a dead elephant they knew and sniff them, throw them, or crush them under their feet. Could they feel angry that their friend "left them?"
They may even visit the place where a relative died long after it's remains have disappeared then stop and look around. It may be that the visitor is thinking about their lost companion, remembering the "good times."
In addition to the sadness and anger they show when a loved one has died, elephants show signs of feeling sad and lonely when they are separated from members of their family. They pace or sway from side to side and trumpet again and again trying to find their missing friend.
When they are reunited with a sister, daughter, or other relative they trumpet excitedly and hurry to greet each other. Then they caress each other and entwine trunks.
Elephant families are close. Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and young brothers live and travel together. No one knows for certain what elephants may be thinking when they are separated from a loved one or when a family member has died, but it is certain they feel strongly.
God gave these sensitive animals the ability to feel the sadness and loneliness of separation or death. God also gave them ways to cope with these feelings. They comfort themselves and each other by their actions, caresses, and communication.
God gave us the gift of emotions. Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4 even points out that there is a right time to display every emotion – “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” To that end, God gave us the ability to find positive ways to express our emotions. He also gave us something more: The Bible. The Bible is full of comfort and encouragement.
The elephants example can be a comfort to us, too. If it's okay for an elephant to be sad, angry, and lonely and to want to pause to remember "the good old days," it's okay for us, too.
Related Verses:
Proverbs 29:11 – “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
Proverbs 15:13 & 18 – “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit…A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.”
Proverbs 17:22 & 23 – “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.”
Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Matthew 10:28 – “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Ephesians 4:26 & 27 – “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”
Philippians 4:6 & 7 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
John 13:34 & 35 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Psalm 33:8 – “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.”