Mounds of Trouble

 Consider This, Misc.  5 Responses »
Oct 272011
 

Fire ants are a part of life in Georgia.  If you have never experienced them, then all you are missing is a dirt mound full of the meanest, biten’est, hurten’est, most aggressive little insects that ever lived!  And unfortunately, they are all over Georgia.  You find them just about anywhere there is dirt.  They build huge mounds for their nest, which they defend ferociously, as anybody who has ever stepped on one can confirm.

A fire ant hill in our yard

Sam and I were walking down the sidewalk this past Sunday and just as we got to the end, spotted a fire ant hill.  “Can I step on it?” Sam asked.  “Sure.”  I said.  It was not my usual response.  I usually prefer not to stir them up.  Keeping them all happy and content in the mound makes it much easier to poison them all later.  But these ants at the end of the trail were in “no man’s land,” so we both stirred them up and watched them come pouring out of the mound looking for something to attack.

As we walked away from the havoc we had created, I wondered why it was so fun to stir up an ant nest.  Step on them.  Kick the nest.  Poke a stick in the mound.  Watch them pour out to defend the nest.  Why stir up trouble?  Was it malice?  Was it revenge for all the past ant bites?  Did it stem from a twisted desire to make life more difficult for another living creature?  Or perhaps it was a desire to show myself superior to the poor little ants?  It could be some of all of these reasons, but I think for me, it’s mostly just curiosity.  One of the first questions that pops in my mind when I see the ant mound is, “Is anybody home?”  Give the mound a little kick; see the inhabitants come swarming out.  “Yep.  They’re in there.”

If you think about it, the whole ant mound incident is a little like the story of Job.  Job was all happy in his big wealthy ant hill when along comes Satan asking God if he can kick the mound.  God gives him the OK, so he kicks it.  Stirs it up.  Pokes a big stick right in the middle of Job’s mound of comfort zone.  Now Satan and God stand back to watch what comes pouring out.

Satan expects a swarm of resentment and hate to spill out all over everything.  “Curse God and die” is the stinging bite he assumes to elicit. What he gets instead is “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”  Not at all what Satan expected to be in the Job mound.  But God wasn’t surprised.  He knew exactly what lived inside the center of that Job mound, and precisely what would happen when Satan stirred it.

God knows what’s in every mound.  Satan, on the other hand, does not.  And unfortunately, he is still in the business of stirring up trouble wherever he can.  We build our little “me” mounds and ready ourselves to defend them ferociously.  Satan comes along and kicks the dirt around so he can watch what happens.  He wants to know what’s inside.  The real question is, if Satan comes messing with the “me” mound, what comes pouring out?  Stinging, biting hurt?  Or the Holy Spirit of God?  When he kicks the nest, checking to see if anybody is home, what will he find?  Will he cackle with delight at the chaos his hardship caused?  Or will God smile while a defeated Satan backs away mumbling,  “Yep, HE’s in there.”

 

And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, “thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.   “All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
    – Mark 7:20-23

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.   Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.   For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
       – Romans 8:11-14

 

Elite Travellers

 Consider This, Misc.  1 Response »
Oct 182011
 

Whenever I travel by air, I fight a tinge of I-don’t-know-what while waiting to board the plane.  The gate attendant announces for the “elite” travellers to board first.  They march right past the rest of us second class travelers and board the plane at will, zipping through the “priority lane” while the rest of us wait in line, jocking for position until our number is finally called.  I make fun of their aloofness, but I think it’s just a pitiful attempt to mask the envy.

How dare they be better than me.  I wanna be elite.  I wanna be first.  And that, I think, is near the heart of the matter.  Not just for me, but for most of the people on the planet.

 

10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 10:36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 10:37 They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” 10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” 10:39 They said to him, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience, 10:40 but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

10:41 Now when the other ten heard this, they became angry with James and John. 10:42 Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
                         — Mark 10:35-45  Netbible.org

Fire Trucks, Cars, and Traffic

 Misc.  No Responses »
Oct 132011
 

While sitting in a parking lot, I just watched a fire truck scream by on the road in front of me.  I heared it comming from way up the street.  The distracted drivers in the busy traffic did not hear and respond immediately, but eventually they parted a bit disjointedly as the fire truck weaved its way through them.  It passed by and then, even before the siren scream had hardly begun to fade, the cars moved back into their lane and continued their busy pace.  Within 30 seconds, traffic was moving at business-as-usual speed.

Still, the fire truck was going somewhere in a hurry.  Somewhere down the road is a person in trouble.  I wonder who it is?

Swimming in Cold Water

 Misc.  3 Responses »
Oct 022011
 

The pool is closed.  We put the cover on it yesterday, but not before I took one last swim.  The water was a cool 72 degrees.  The air was just a little warmer, and the sun was shining through a clear blue sky.  The sparkling fresh water was just daring me to jump in.  I did it.  The water was cold and a little bit of a shock, but I jumped in anyway, and in the process, found joy.

There is something about acts like this that lift my sprit.  I don’t know why.  I hope it’s not a character flaw.  What I THINK I like, is to be comfortable.  To sit and relax.  To do the easy things.  To do the usual, normal things.  But what I find brings me joy is to suck it up every now and then and force myself to do something just a little out of that box.  I couldn’t resist the urge to add to my “Fun things I did this year” resume: Went swimming in October.  Been there, done that.   What’s next?