When The Ants Coming Marching In....


Would Jesus kill an ant? It is a serious question.

We know Spring is around the corner when ants begin to appear en masse in the Bierker household. No prognosticator shadow seeing groundhog needed. Now, groundhogs in the garden, I have no problem exterminating. But ants? Those little hard working creatures? It is not like they are fire ants attacking me or my wife. Or a wasp. Or even a fly buzzing around my head...all of which I can justify taking out. These ants are just trying to get by, and are feeding off of stuff that we have left behind.

Yesterday, no fooling, Lina left a plate on our kitchen elevated table for two that was coated with grease, sprinkled with bagel crumbs and eggs, and flecks of cheese. Could feed a Patton-sized Army of Ants. We headed off in a hurry to church. I was out in the car getting my GPS working so I saw not her egregious error. Nary an ant when we returned several hours later. Me, in making the bagel egg and cheese sandwich, dropped a small piece of the creation in the corner of the sink, and it was an ant convention. A writhing ant orgy of food. Once again, Lina skates and I crash. Not sure why.

Lina also gets much more worked up about the ants in general. I have a "live and live" perspective, until the ants do what they did yesterday by swarming. I have an upper limit of tolerance. Yet, a group of ants on patrol for food, doing what God created them to do, I feel queasy about killing them. It feels like speciesism. How would I like it if a much larger creature than me crushed my cranium just because I was looking for some grub with my homeys? They ain't hurting me. 

So, I ask again, would Jesus kill an ant?          

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shake the Dust: Anis Mojgani

Pslam 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." I am not real certain where Anis Mojgani comes from belief-wise. Cats like him tend to be synchrestic spiritually rather than Christ-centered. Yet, this poem captures the spirit of Jesus. What this poem also needs is grace....we shake off sin and mortality and take on Christ and immortality. This is for the fat girls This is for the little brothers For the former prom queen And for the milk crate ball players This is for the school yard wimps And the childhood bullies that tormented them Shake the dust. This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them. This is for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns And for the men who have to hold down 3 jobs, Simply to hold up their children. For the nighttime schoolers And for the midnight bike riders trying to fly Shake the dust. For the two year olds who cann
Read more

White Shoes, White Stones

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. (ASV) With the white stone mentioned above in the Scripture verse, "And will give him a white stone" it is "Supposed that by the white stone is meant pardon or acquittance, and the evidence of it; and that there is an allusion here to the custom observed by judges in ancient times, who were accustomed to give their suffrages by white and black pebbles; those who gave the former were for absolving the culprit, those who gave the latter were for his condemnation." (Clarke) What has brought about this essay was my purchasing the other day of some very white and new Nike jogging shoes. My old pair of Nike's have been worn down. I was developing serious pain in my feet which is a solid sign that it is t
Read more

Going Rogue: Dare, Risk, Dream

Image
I picked up a bumper sticker at a Pub recently from the Rogue Brewery . On it there are the words: DARE, RISK, DREAM. Typically, the word Rogue is a negative term. I will let you decide if Sarah Palin and her book has made the word less or more so. Initially, I taped the bumper sticker to my computer lap top with the backing still on it in case I wanted to remove it. Just a second ago, I committed fully, and pulled the backing off and affixed it to my Dell. No turning back. Is that not an illustration of how to accomplish great things? We have to stick and commit. If we go taping ourselves to the backs of things, it leads to easier removal but also to tepid efforts. Now, if I take this bumper sticker off the back of my lap top it is going to be a mess...I am all in. Consequences be damned. My summer vacation officially began today at noon (why else would I be blogging at 3:26 am?) and my creed for the summer is DARE, RISK, DREAM. A Kerouac quote to light the fireworks... "Great th
Read more