Nature has a way of teaching truth -- and again I was a witness to another truth today.
After spending a long weekend at the beach with my daughter, her husband, my grandson and my granddaughter, we returned to our gardens which had been blessed with rain in our absence. Being away on vacation, no matter how brief, is always good, refreshing, and relaxing, but returning home to the familiar is always comforting. I missed seeing my gardens while I was away. So I've been enjoying the countless butterflies as they flutter from flower to flower, sipping the life-giving nectar that they crave.
Late today, I had to pull out the hose again; it was a hot day, probably close to 96 degrees or so with oppressive humidity. As I began to water the drooping flowers, I noticed a spicebush swallowtail that looked rather odd from my vantage point. Upon further inspection, I discovered that it was being consumed, at that very instant, by another huge praying mantis. Needless to say, I was greatly disturbed. Suddenly, the insect that I thought to be my friend became an object of my anger. How dare it kill beautiful, harmless butterflies! It was supposed to, at least in my book, kill only those things that did harm to my plants, and here I'd caught praying mantises killing both a hummingbird moth and now a beautiful, fragile butterfly! I stepped inside and grabbed my camera and documented the 'murder' again, but I thought I'd spare showing you another grizzly photograph.
The praying mantis has taught me that what appears to be beneficial and should be beneficial can often be destructive as well. There is not one human being -- outside of Jesus Christ -- that is good in every aspect, and I'm sure that every one reading this can think of at least one person who has done something to hurt you, even if they claim to love you. People are fallible, deceptive, pretentious and manipulative, and all of us have been the object of harm at one time or another. Just as the praying mantis is beneficial, he also shows no selectivity when it comes to catching a meal -- be it butterfly or grasshoppper, whatever comes near, he'll catch it and devour it. Many things and people in this world appear to be good but are only concerned about their own welfare and will take down and destroy someone to get what they want. As the word says in Matthew 10:16 -- "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."
Watch and pray, dear readers, so you'll not be snared by a praying mantis in your life. It appears to be praying when in actuality it is waiting for an unsuspecting insect to travel close enough to snag, and even people who appear to be praying will wait until the opportune moment to snatch someone unawares.
Just read this lovely post. I too love to see what God reveals to us in nature. After reading this post, I'm reminded by Matthew 10:16 that I need to apologize for something I said and the way in which it was said. I'm certain my words, spoken in crisis, were not harmless as doves.
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