The Plumbline

I have written about ants before, but this morning, I'd like to write about the carpenter ant. These are small creatures, but they have such skill at constructing their homes that they have been labeled as "carpenters" simply because of this skill.  Actually, these are some of the larger ants we find in the world, not at all like the wee ones which might invade our cupboards in search of a sugar trail.  These "little guys" are hard to miss!   Their call to fame is that of building their homes not in the dirt, but out of wood.  Most scientists will tell you they are referred to as "excavator" ants because of how much they do to "excavate" old fallen trees and such at the base of the forest floor.  In reality, these little guys can do as significant damage to your home as they can to the fallen tree.  They aren't all that particular about the wood they choose to "excavate"!  Scripture tells us to "learn by watching the ants...

As a small girl, I loved to spend time just watching things in nature - because they offered such great lessons.  Even as a child, I guess I was a little bit of a "deep thinker", spending lazy afternoons lulling about, studying geckos on the wall, watching birds build a nest, or taking in the activity at the anthill.  The gecko amazed me with its ability to scale the walls without even a slight "slip" in its grip.  The birds caught my attention for long period of time as they'd work those tiny beaks and claws around some piece of freshly cut grass and weave it into the form of their nest.  The ants, on the other hand, captured my attention because of their seeming "smallness" which never seemed to slow them down or cause them to abandon a project.  They hauled objects bigger than their own body size, with nothing more than those two little pinchers and a great deal of balance.  Their steady pace was never stopped despite the obstacles presented in thei...

The other night, I enjoyed the privilege of picking up my two grandsons and spending the evening with them.  The night began with choosing which "fast food" chain we'd pick up our dinner from and then we would take it home to meet up with GG (Great Grandma).  As the boys decided on the "meal of the night", we began to talk about the "small stuff" like school, what cars they liked best, the mosquito bites on their legs, and the like.  At dinner, something else began to happen.  As we sat around the kitchen table, each of us enjoying our salad, hamburger, or chicken nuggets, the youngest was proudly proclaiming how he and I had built some flowerbeds a couple weeks back.  His older brother was at school when we did it, so it came as a surprise to see the changes in the yard.  I watched as the younger boy explained how he carried the plants, held the wood, found potato bugs, and helped dig the holes for the trees.  His chest popped out in pleasure as he ex...

24-28  There are four small creatures, wisest of the wise they are—       ants—frail as they are, get plenty of food in for the winter;       marmots—vulnerable as they are, manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;       locusts—leaderless insects, yet they strip the field like an army regiment;       lizards—easy enough to catch, but they sneak past vigilant palace guards. (Proverbs 30:24-28 The Message) We have looked at the ant before, but I think there might be some opportunity to explore these other creatures to see what lessons we might glean from them. Scripture calls them the wisest of the wise - I guess that is in animal life - so, we will likely be able to see some characteristics that we might want to emulate in our own. The ant, of course, is cited as wise because of its careful planning and diligence to task.  They a...