Tue 5 Sep 2006
Our whole family was terribly saddened yesterday by news of the death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. It seems rather bizarre that he was killed by an animal that rarely kills. The Common Room states that
“there have only been 17 known fatal sting ray deaths worldwide.”
One of the best places on the web is Kim’s Coffee and a Muffin site. If you need help with your homemaking skills, as I do, then you will want to check out her site. All that to say I am not picking on Kim, just thinking out loud.
Here is what she posted yesterday: “May the children all over the world who idolized him learn from this hard lesson.” I don’t disagree with Kim but I had never really thought of it that way and I know my boys haven’t. Steve seemed to be a family man who took risks. In these times when even heterosexual males are fretting over what color to wear, Steve seemed to be a breath of fresh air. I didn’t get a chance to watch him very often so I don’t know how foolish he actually was. It doesn’t seem like he was being especially foolish yesterday.
At any rate, I know that Kim and I will both be praying for his family, that, perhaps, God might grant them grace.
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“All men die, not all men truly live.” High risky! Timmay
Comment by Timothy (September 5, 2006 @ 1:31 pm )
The news of his death made us very sad too.
I appreciate your post and your perspective.
Comment by Janet (September 5, 2006 @ 3:32 pm )
We had several families over for a Labor Day picnic, and as each family arrived, we mentioned Steve Irwin’s death. Most of them hadn’t heard, and all were shocked. A couple of us teared up! (I know it’s silly, but true.) I agree with you, Cindy, in that he was a man’s man, doing his work (work he LOVED!), and he died “with his boots on”, as my daughter put it. I couldn’t imagine Steve doing any other job. Can you see him sitting behind a desk? Or worse yet, a computer?? (yikes) He could have died driving to the grocery store. God is sovereign over all. (And I’m not implying that there is anything wrong with working behind a desk at a computer; my husband does. It just would have been “wrong” for Steve Irwin!)
Comment by Linda (September 5, 2006 @ 4:13 pm )
How come you didn’t invite us?
Comment by Cindy (September 5, 2006 @ 4:57 pm )
Ack! Were you in Chattanooga? I thought Tim went home for the weekend. Did I imagine that I read that earlier on your blog somewhere? You know the door is always open for you!!
Comment by Linda (September 5, 2006 @ 6:04 pm )
No, we weren’t in Chattanooga. I would have invited myself.
Comment by Cindy (September 5, 2006 @ 6:33 pm )
We are very sad over his death here, as well. I don’t really know where Kim is coming from, but my personal opinion is that Steve Irwin was a professional, and highly experienced and knowledgeable in his field. Perhaps some believe he took unnecessary risks, but he was working for his passion, which was the protection and conservation of wild animals. I don’t feel it’s my place to comment on how God feels about how Steve lived his life. I don’t know enough about the man to know if his life glorified the Lord or not.
It bothers me that some might think his tragic death was deserved because ‘if you play with fire, you get burned’. We all deserve death, because we are all sinners. I pray for mercy for Steve’s soul, and for God to comfort and sustain his family.
I’m glad you brought this up, because it’s nice to mourn together.
Comment by Denise (September 6, 2006 @ 12:12 am )
We were all sad here too when we heard the news.
Comment by Jeannine (September 6, 2006 @ 3:08 pm )
I was only familiar with Mr. Irwin vaguely, from a distance. It’s obvious he was deeply loved by so many.
One thing that saddens me, though, is that I keep running across quotes from fans who sign off with “Cr*key!” and who want to “keep Mr. Irwin’s memory alive” by using that word — a word that is actually Aussie slang for the name of Christ.
Despite this, I offer my sincere condolences to his family and to all the folks out there who loved him and his work, including you, Cindy and Family.
Comment by Ruthanne (September 6, 2006 @ 4:06 pm )
Ruthanne,
I hadn’t heard that word until recently and didn’t know what it was. Thank-you for letting me know. I can just see my boys picking up that kind of thing for fun. Now I will know what to tell them.
Comment by Cindy (September 6, 2006 @ 4:12 pm )
Hey Dominion family,
Not sure if that’s your last name or your theology
but just wanted to leave you a comment. I found out about Kim’s site via yours so wanted to thank you for mentioning her (it was in the menu post). I linked to your blog and hope to come back often. Found you through Amy the humble. 
Blessings,
Kat
Comment by Kat (September 6, 2006 @ 5:40 pm )
Cindy, the reason I referred to “foolishness” when mentioning Steve Irwin was because of his “Michael Jackson” incident where he brought his one-month-old son into a croc pen and held him with one arm while feeding chicken to the croc with his other hand! One slip and his son could’ve been eaten on national tv. He tried justifying his actions, but sorry, that was TOTAL foolishness, imo. He took a lot of heat for it all over the world, and rightly so. He was also always playing around with deadly animals and I wondered how many kids would want to be “just like Steve” when coming across poisonous creatures. Despite those things I did admire his child-like curiosity and bravery, and he cared about his family. I just wish his kids still had their dad, ya know?
Comment by Kim (September 6, 2006 @ 10:50 pm )
I read something that said the word “Crikey” was altered from “Christ” to avoid being blasphemous. So perhaps it was used by those who didn’t want to take the name of the Lord in vain. It is also defined in many place as “an expression of surprise or astonishment”. Either way, God judges the heart of the speaker. My children would never connect that word with the Lord, but since apparently some may, we will avoid using that expression and avoid appearance of evil. I just wanted to add that perhaps Mr. Irwin was not aware of the origin of the word…perhaps it’s meaning has morphed over the years into simply an expression of surprise. Either way, I appreciate that you called our attention to this, Ruthanne.
Denise
Comment by Denise (September 7, 2006 @ 12:12 am )
You have to quote my silly redundancy, don’t you? (fatal/deaths).
Seriously, we were sad here, too. Nobody here idolized him. I think we’ve only seen his show a handful of times. But all our children were sad, because his passion was a joy to see. Passion always sparks a warm response in us, I think. Our son’s response was one of the few mature responses to anything grown up I’ve seen him have- mostly he turns everything into a joke or a chance to show off. This time his reaction was different.
To be honest, I did think he took unnecessary risks, but I think my children take unnecessary risks everytime they leave the house, so I am pretty sure my fears are not a good standard of measurement.
I don’t want to pass myself off as some sort of expert that I’m not, but the two science classes I have taken in my life that I loved and got an A in were Marine Zoology and Oceanography. I’ve spent a lot of time watching rays swim in a huge public aquarium in Japan. Having snorkeled and done some swimming in tropical waters myself, I can say I know just enough about rays to know that they are one of the few critters I would NOT be afraid of my children encountering in the wild. I’ve always thought of them as gentle giants (even the ones that aren’t giants). Raccoons scare me more (with good reason). It was truly a freakish event.
Incidentally, I’ve been thinking of risks and risk-taking and girls and boys for obvious reasons, and I’m trying to figure out what makes us call some things dangerous and risk-taking and lable other things every day activities.
Cos, you know, every single time we get in a car we’re taking quite the biggest risk we take in life, physically speaking. The statistics on this are just horrendous, far worse than wars, or just about any other known danger. Riding in a car may have been the most risky activity Steve Irwin ever participated in.
So why do you suppose we get the vapors over he-man stuff like climbing trees, boating, rock climbing and the like, and seldom bat an eye over the daily activity of strapping the whole family in a death trap and toodling off down the highway?
Comment by deputyheadmistress (September 7, 2006 @ 1:51 am )
Kim,
I am glad you commented because I certainly didn’t mean this to be against you. Your thoughts were just a catalyst for mine. Truthfully, I hardly ever saw Steve Irwin. Basically only when we stayed in motels. I am glad I didn’t see the baby thing because it would have definitely impacted my opinions like it did yours.
DHM,
In all fairness, I completely missed (:)) the redundancy. I am surprised that I did though because I love that sort of thing and I am listening to Chesterton on audio.
My brother was stung by some sort of ray once. I grew up in Fl and it was in the early, early years. I don’t think we ever had another incident after that with any sea creature and we went to the beach almost daily some years.
Comment by Cindy (September 7, 2006 @ 8:15 am )