Connecting With an Ant
Yesterday, I went for a hike and decided to stop at a bench to take a break.
I noticed an ant on the bench, and my first instinct was to flick it away.
I can't tell you how much I abhor ants.
But for some reason, I stopped myself.
I thought to myself:
"What if I were an alien, and was visiting Earth, and I came across a human?
Maybe I'm a huge alien, like so big that the human can't really see me because of his limited perspective.
If a human annoyed me, would I just flick it away? Or would I understand they were only tiny in comparison to me, and unable to understand what I was about to do because of their stage of development?”
While sitting there, with this imaginary story running through my mind, I looked at that ant again.
Instead of indulging in my irrational fear of ants, I tried to send it a simple message:
I see you. I won't hurt you. Maybe I even love you.
I got very emotional.
It wasn't about this little black ant anymore, (actually, he was big for an ant), but I suddenly noticed how many tiny little lives I've affected because I was annoyed at them. How many gnats I've swatted at, bugs I've thumped and so on.
I looked at the trail through the woods I was just on, and watched for about 10 minutes how many winged insects use it as a speedway. I also watched some deer come up the path...my road was their road, too.
In that moment, something clicked within me.
I realized how much of my daily life is based on stupid assumptions and for the most part many of my actions are actually unconscious reactions.
I rarely stop long enough to actually notice the beings around me that are just trying to live, travel, and survive the day.
Just like me.
I started to cry.
I believe that tears often come when we subconsciously recognize that we are not separate, but connected.
I wonder if this recognition is built into us, maybe to spur us on to realize that God isn't out there, He's right here within, always.
We are Him, He is us.
That ant, yesterday, helped me go up a rung in my spiral of understanding things.
Life isn't a hierarchy based on size, intellect or being bipedal with opposable thumbs.
We are all of us a part of the same creation.
And if we can take a minute at a quiet crossroad, and choose recognition instead of dismissal, compassion instead of apathy, maybe we can individually shift the world, just a little.
I hope my little ant story shifted something inside of you today.
Random fact about me: My favorite flower is the Rose of Sharon. I had a bush in my backyard as a kid, and always thought of it as 'my flower'.