Sunday, July 1, 2012

An Intruder Turned Teacher



My first impulse was to flatten him. But with only my hand as a weapon, I hesitated. 
A brown spider appeared at the edge of my chair. He climbed up to my eye level and swung towards me. Instead of landing, he swerved and ascended on his invisible rope. His amazing trek propelled him to the ceiling fan at least twelve feet high. 
On his way, he consumed a bug trapped in the sticky web. He hung--suspended in midair. Then he crawled up and down the invisible rope. 
Spiders aren’t my favorite creatures but watching him was fascinating. I marveled at his ability to spin the web at such heights while moving back and forth on it. 
Over the years, I have destroyed hundreds of webs. Some cluttered my home and others wrapped sticky goo onto my body. What seemed a nuisance to me was a magnificent, necessity for the spiders. 
That ordinary spider spoke of God’s everyday miracles. My hand wrote sentences that my brain concocted. Eyes captured the magnificence of the garden and printed them in my brain. Lungs pulled in air to sustain me. A beating heart supplied life giving blood throughout my body. A slight rumble signaled that my stomach needed food. A cool breeze brushed my skin. Legs propelled me to my favorite chair. 
Sunlight reflected on the lake. Ducks swam and quacked. A hummingbird poked its head into a purple bloom. Ripe tomatoes hung on the vine. Leaves swayed in the wind. Astonishing miracles.
The pesky spider, that I almost destroyed, gave me a lesson in appreciating my countless blessings.
...”Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5: 19-20
Creator, guide me to see your miracles and appreciate even the seemingly small ones. Amen

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