Saving Thumper

We do a lot of prescribed burning where I work...I mean A LOT. I will usually be involved in burning anywhere from 10,000-20,000 acres per year. I enjoy the work but it gets old very quickly since it takes 2-3 months of burning 2-5 days per week. That's a lot of smoke for one person to inhale.

Yesterday was kind of a slow day at first so on the first block we burned I didn't have much to do except watch the lines. We were burning around the horse pasture & dog kennels so I was standing on the line between the fence and the burn talking to one of the other guys on the crew. All of a sudden we heard this squealing sound coming from the fire. At this point the fire is pretty calm with flame lengths of only about 2-4 inches so we're within 10 feet of the fire. It turns out the squealing sound is a baby rabbit getting burned by the fire. We both saw it about the same time so I reached down and grabbed what you can imagine was a quite disoriented & scared little bunny. I had seen the momma rabbit run out of the fire right after we lit it but never considered that there were babies in there. So I picked it up and wiped off as much of the ash and char as I could but it still had some small burns on its leg and head - nothing that really broke the skin or should be fatal for the little guy. After I wiped him off I held him for a minute or two trying to decide what to do with him. He nudged his way into my elbow between my arm and my body and calmed down. I put him in a little patch of thick grass that we didn't burn so hopefully the momma rabbit found him last night.

I tell this story because in our society guys are supposed to be tough and thick skinned and not really care about things like baby rabbits. I love my job and I realize our burning does kill some animals but by and large it improves habitat and provides food for those animals that would otherwise not be available. I looked at that rabbit in that fire and without a thought or hesitation I reached right in and grabbed him. I didn't get burned but I never even thought of that until now. I don't know if I had my gloves on or not, it didn't matter. It needed my help and only me pulling it out of the fire would save it. Its mother had left it and it was lost and confused in the fire. It would've stayed there writhing in pain until it died.

I think of saving that little rabbit and it reminds me of what God has done for us - He has pulled us out of the fire and our suffering. He looks down and sees us writhing in pain, burning and struggling, and he picks us up, wipes off the char and soot and protects us. Even when we are abandoned by our families, friends, society, country, whatever, He is there to pick us up. He picks us up, cradles us in His arms, and gives us a new life. What a wonderful savior!