wise fellows

I was on break at work last night and found this old jewel while reading:

"There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer;

the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags;

the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks;

the spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings' palaces."

Proverbs 30:24-28

I got all dreamy and so far away when I read this!!! I had it all circled and starred and underlined but sometimes I just forget ya know? Guess that's why it's a book to read for a whole lifetime.. I used to be quite obsessed with fantasy reading before I was a Christian. I couldn't get enough of celtic fairy lore, fairytales in general, and so on. I loved the imagery and the magic; fauns, faeiries, gnomes, elves, little people... Now I know that all the magic I can handle is graced on the pages of the Bible. There's enough real wonder visible with the human eye that I don't need to dream of a beyond here on earth. I never knew this kind of stuff was in the Bible! My only impression in childhood was dry liturgical repetition I heard in church and I wanted nothing to do with it. How marvelous to discover the actual Word for myself and what treasures it held for me! So, the pictures above: leafcutter ants are simply brilliant creatures. My husband is an endless vat of random and amazing facts. He said leafcutters put the leaves in their nest to grow fungus on that they eat. Little farmers! He saw them in Belize long ago and thought the leaves were all walking around in the jungle. Then he told me about the garden spider. Apparently these little guys have a number of different webs they make for different purposes, and one they can cast into the air and ride like a hang-glider for thousands of miles! Can you even deal with that? I used pictures of webs instead of the spider itself in case Carrie sees this... Anyhow, I could go on and on about exciting facts about these lil' fellows o' wisdom, but alas, i'm trying to battle the urge to marathon post. I found some pretty deep spiritual analogies that go with each of these examples, but i'll leave that to your own discovery.