“These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.” — Psalm 104:27–28, NRSVUE
Over the last few weeks, a red-tailed hawk has been visiting Common Good Farm. I’ve seen him sitting in the trees, watching the chickens as they roam the grass, look for insects, and enjoy their freedom.
Yesterday, he made his move. He swooped down and killed one of our hens. When I found out, it was already too late. A bird I had raised and cared for was gone, and now the hawk knows our farm is a good place to find food.
Losing the chicken made me sad, and I felt frustrated thinking about what this could mean for the rest of the flock. Red-tailed hawks are skilled hunters, and if one finds an easy meal, it might come back. Now I have to figure out how to protect my birds without hurting a creature that’s just trying to survive.
Farming brings up ethical questions that are hard to understand until you’re the one responsible for the animals. The hawk hasn’t done anything wrong. He needs to eat, and from his spot in the trees, my chickens are just part of the scenery. He doesn’t know how much I care about them or the responsibility I’ve taken on.
But I haven’t done anything wrong by wanting to protect them, either. When people domesticated chickens, we changed how they survive. Wild chickens learned to avoid predators in thick plants. Domestic chickens still have some of those instincts, but they rely on us for protection in ways their wild ancestors didn’t.
When I brought these birds to the farm, I took on that responsibility. I enjoy their eggs, their company, and watching them explore the grass. But these joys come with duties. I can’t just let them roam free and ignore the risks that come with it. I’m responsible for the chickens, but that doesn’t mean I have to see the hawk as an enemy.
I’ve been thinking about this struggle through the Franciscan tradition, which has become important to me as I’ve worked with Franciscan sisters and brothers.
Francis of Assisi saw creation as a community of kin. In his Canticle of the Creatures, he speaks to Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, and Sister Water.1 He believed the natural world was a group of fellow creatures, all deserving gratitude and respect. We often think of this part of Franciscan spirituality through sweet pictures of Francis with gentle animals. But the beliefs behind those images ask much more of us.
If creation really is a family, then the hawk is part of it just as much as my chickens are. Family members don’t always want or need the same things. The hawk lives by hunting other animals. My chickens survive partly because I keep them safe from predators like the hawk. There’s no way for every creature to get everything it needs without affecting others.
The Franciscan theologian Bonaventure expanded on this idea by saying creation reflects divine goodness. Every creature carries some of the Creator’s wisdom and generosity. The natural world is a place where we meet the sacred through the lives of those around us.2
I wonder what happens if we really take this belief seriously when lives come into conflict. For me, the ethical question isn’t just about which creature should live, but about how I can meet my responsibility without causing needless harm.
Red-tailed hawks are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,3 so it’s usually illegal to kill or capture one without federal permission. But even if that law didn’t exist, I’d still want to find a different solution.
I can add more cover for the chickens, make their run safer, and watch the hawk’s habits more closely. Maybe I can make my chickens less vulnerable without seeing the hawk as a problem to get rid of. That feels like a real way to live out Franciscan ethics—by paying more attention to the relationships when needs compete.
There’s another part of this experience that I’m still trying to understand. Life on a farm includes death. Taking care of animals sometimes means making hard choices about suffering, sickness, and what we can and can’t do to save them. I know our food comes from living systems where death is part of the process.
But losing the chicken yesterday felt different. I didn’t choose it or see it coming. I just walked outside and found that a life I was caring for was gone. The hawk’s hunger doesn’t make my grief any less, and knowing about the ecological relationship doesn’t make the loss any easier.
Maybe that’s another lesson from Franciscan spirituality. Respecting creation means staying open to a world where beauty and suffering are closely linked. We can’t truly love living creatures without feeling their vulnerability.
I’ll probably see the hawk again. He might come back to hunt, or he might move on. I’ll keep watching and make changes to help the chickens live more safely under the open sky.
I could keep the chickens enclosed all the time, and maybe sometimes I’ll have to. But I also value the life they have when they can roam, forage, and act like chickens. Their freedom comes with risks, and I have to keep thinking about how much risk is okay when I’m responsible for their safety.
I don’t think there will ever be a perfect answer. The hawk hasn’t done anything wrong. My chicken deserved to live. And I still have work to do.
Maybe that’s what kinship with creation really looks like, beyond the sweet images of Saint Francis with animals. Sometimes loving our fellow creatures means accepting that their needs cannot all be reconciled, and then finding the most compassionate way to live together anyway.
We are in this together,
Cameron
PS - Many of you have asked about Little Grace, one of our baby goats who had a bout of pneumonia. She is doing much better. She still has a cough (and perhaps always will), but she is frolicking in the field as I type this, being a happy little baby goat. It’s all a marvel.
Reflection Questions
When have you faced a situation in which two legitimate needs came into conflict, leaving you without an entirely satisfying solution? How did you decide what responsibility required of you?
Franciscan spirituality invites us to understand creation as a community of kinship. How might your relationship with animals, the land, or other people change if you approached them as fellow participants in a shared life rather than as resources or obstacles?
What might it mean to protect someone or something entrusted to your care without turning the person or creature who threatens them into an enemy?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For All Who Share This Earth
Generous Creator, You know the hunger of the hawk and the vulnerability of the hen. You have given life to creatures whose needs sometimes bring them into conflict. Teach us to love this world as it truly is, with its beauty and its sorrow, its abundance and its hunger. Give us tenderness for the lives entrusted to our care, and wisdom to protect them without causing unnecessary harm. Keep us from imagining that everything we love must belong to us, or that everything we fear must be destroyed. May our care become more attentive, our choices more compassionate, and our hearts spacious enough to grieve what we cannot save. Amen.
Spiritual Practice: The Circle of Kinship
Find a quiet place outdoors, perhaps in a garden, beneath a tree, or somewhere you can observe the living world without disturbing it.
Spend ten minutes noticing the creatures around you. You might see birds searching for food, insects moving among plants, or trees competing for sunlight. Pay attention to the ways each living thing participates in a world of relationships and needs.
Choose one creature and consider its life beyond your immediate experience of it. What does it need to survive? What dangers does it face? How might its needs overlap or conflict with those of other creatures?
Now think about a responsibility you carry in your own life. Perhaps you are caring for a family member, leading an organization, protecting a vulnerable person, or making decisions that affect a community. Consider whether there is someone whose needs seem to conflict with your own obligations.
Ask yourself how you might honor the dignity of everyone involved while still fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to you.
Before leaving, offer an expression of gratitude for the living world and the relationships that sustain you. You might say, “May I learn to protect what I love without losing compassion for what I fear.”
The practice is an invitation to recognize that reverence for life becomes most meaningful when our responsibilities are complicated and the answers are not easy.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
October 27, 2026 - 12:30 - 1:30pm ET - ONLINE BOOK CLUB - I am hosting a book club where we are reading Fr. Gregory Boyle’s “Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times.” Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, has spent decades building community among people whom society has often discarded. In Cherished Belonging, he draws on those relationships and stories to explore what might happen if we stopped sorting people into categories of worthy and unworthy, us and them. Don’t worry if you don’t have time to read the book. We always have incredibly rich conversations. All are welcome. RSVP Here.
November 4, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Theologian Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again in a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for a 24-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. Learn more and REGISTER HERE!
November 10, 7-8:30pm ET - I’ll be joined by theologian, writer, and professor Dr. Debra Rienstra for a special ONLINE conversation on Refugia Faith. In ecology, refugia are small places where life survives amid disruption, pockets of resilience from which life can eventually regenerate and spread. Debra invites us to consider what this might mean spiritually in an age of climate instability, political turmoil, institutional decline, and profound uncertainty. What if our congregations, communities, relationships, and even our own lives could become refugia, places where courage, compassion, beauty, wisdom, and possibility are protected and cultivated for whatever comes next? I hope you’ll join us for this timely and deeply hopeful conversation. REGISTER HERE!
November 19, 2026, 7-8:45pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman for an online session on practicing eidetics as part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” monthly series. Eidetic Imagery is a powerful tool for pastors, denominational leaders, coaches, and spiritual directors working with others, and for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing in their own lives. Jackie is a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, and has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
December 8, 2026, 7-8:00pm ET - The holidays can be especially tender when we are carrying grief. Whether we are mourning someone we love, navigating changes in our health or relationships, or grieving the uncertainty of the world around us, this season can bring losses both old and new to the surface. Join us on The Commons for a special one-hour online gathering led by my friend Joy Gaertner, an Advanced Loss & Grief Recovery Specialist. Together, we will create a welcoming space to acknowledge our losses, honor what we carry through meaningful rituals of remembrance, and discover sources of hope for the season ahead. This will be a gentle evening of connection and care, with room for whatever grief you may be holding. The gathering is donation-based, and all are welcome. LEARN MORE HERE.
December 15, 7-8:30pm ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be joined by Dr. Charissa Mikoski, Assistant Professor of Research and Hartford Institute for Religion Research for a presentation on “The State of American Congregations: What the Latest Data Tell Us.” This webinar explores findings from the 2025 Faith Communities Today survey, including changes in worship attendance, congregational vitality, finances, volunteering, programming, and leadership. It will also examine what more than 24,000 individual attenders tell us about participation and their experiences of congregational life. Together, these findings offer a picture that is neither simply one of decline nor one of revival, but of significant change and uneven recovery. REGISTER HERE.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
Happening NOW - The Ride 2026: Carrying the Legacy of the Freedom Riders Forward - Sixty-five years after the original Freedom Riders boarded buses to challenge segregation in the American South, a new generation is retracing their historic journey. My dear friend, Rev. Traci Blackmon, is joining Rev. Dr. Michael Waters, Pastor Doug Pagitt, original Freedom Riders and their descendants, and a remarkable coalition of faith and civil rights organizations for The Ride 2026. Traveling from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, October 17–28, they are visiting historic civil rights sites, churches, and communities to honor the courage of those who came before us while encouraging civic participation and protecting voting rights today. At a time when so many Americans are worried about the future of our democracy, I am deeply grateful for these friends who are putting their faith into action. Please follow their extraordinary journey, celebrate their work, and consider supporting the effort.
Every Monday, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/the-canticle-of-the-creatures/
https://www.sbu.edu/academics/academic-resources/franciscan-institute
https://www.fws.gov/law/migratory-bird-treaty-act-1918