Spider Web Wisdom



"Humanity is a spiders web.
Touch the web at any point and the whole web vibrates."
Maithri Goonetilleke*

Since I live in Florida, I should be used to gigantic bugs; I'm not. The Palmetto bugs, aka roaches that skitter across the garage floor when the overhead light is turned on give me the willies. This year's mosquitoes look like they could care off a small child. All the rain and sun make Florida a bug's paradise.

I don't mind the little ones. I enjoy watching the lizards scamper to and fro. I think this must be breeding season because I've seen a number of baby lizards not much bigger than my pinky. Yesterday while in the pool I saved a frog that was so tiny I was surprised he could even swim. He rested on the tip of my finger catching his breath, then hopped back to life when I put him near a blade of grass. I'm glad I did not have to try to resuscitate the little fellow because I might have inhaled him or snorted him up my nose.

Florida is buggy. I get that. But I'm always a little surprised when I come out in the morning and see something like the spider in the picture above. I've never seen one of these spiders crawling around on the ground. Only in these monster size webs. This one spread several feet from bush to bush. I know nothing of how spiders spin their webs, but it is a skill that both attracts my attention and makes my skin crawl. (This picture is not very clear because I didn't want to get so close that I fell into the web and was stuck there with that man eater thinking he'd won the spider equivalent of the lottery.)

There I was being all grossed out by the spider and its web when I read yesterday's Soaring Impulse blog post. As most of them on this site do the words brought me to the point of tears as well as gratitude for the people in the world who are not afraid to share their love and talent. Many people, ME included, see the world's problems as being so large as to be insurrmountable, which translates to being untouchable.

How can any of us hope to make a dent in the AIDs crisis, or end global poverty, or bring about world peace? But how will these things ever get done if we lament our shortcomings instead of stepping out in faith - one hand reaching to another to another to another. After seeing the spider web in my front yard, I could imagine how true Maithri's father's words really were. If I gently placed a finger anywhere on that web (not that I would) it would vibrate across the bushes.

Last night I was given the opportunity to talk about the Guild of the Christ Child, the outreach ministry I started at my church, to a group of about 10 little kids. When I first started speaking I was looking at blank stares; bored kids just waiting for me to get finished so they could play. Thankfully, they were polite enough to act like they were listening. I thought I'd lost them as I read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. But as soon as I pulled out some strips of muslin and compared them to a newborn sized onesie they began to get my point.

What really got them, though, was the hay. I passed around a big ole handful of scratchy, stinky hay, then a nice soft blanket. I think every one of those kids got the idea. How hard it must have been 2000 years ago for a homeless mother and baby, and how hard it might still be today. We talked about being homeless and hungry. And we talked about reaching out to people with as little as a penny or a prayer or a smile.

I believe it's true what Mother Theresa said: "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." Some people will do great things, but the vast majority of us will only manage the small things. Small things that will make the web of humanity vibrate with love. Love the size of a humongous spider.
When my talk was finished the kids, prompted by the adult leader, said "Thank you Miss Mary" in unison. Then as I was packing up my props - the blanket, hat and hay - this little girl came up to me and tapped me on the knee. I turned to her and she looked up at me with big brown eyes, smiled and hugged my legs. I had been trying to tell these kids that the source of all love, whom I choose to call God, does speak to each of us. Not in words so much as a feeling we get in our heart. As that child hugged me, I think I heard a voice from heaven saying loud and clear, "Good Job, Mary."
May you touch and be touched by love,
Merry ME

http://www.soaringimpulse.com/Everything that is good and beautiful, Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Comments

terri st. cloud said…
if i may be so bold as to echo heaven...good job, mary!
big smile over here!
July 31, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Fire Byrd said…
lovely end to a post I was not enjoying.....I DON'T like spiders!
xx
July 31, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
November 7, 2009 at 10:22 PM
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