Ants in Trees!

Pottering in the garden yesterday, I noticed ants climbing a tree. Unusual behaviour for ants, I thought, and I watched an ant climb the tree to see what it was up to. I was further surprised to see it visit a colony of about thirty little brown things huddled together on a young branch.

That, or course, was not the only one. Wider inspection showed me several colonies like that scattered throughout the tree, usually between twenty to forty eggs parked on a branch. That’s if they were eggs, which seemed most likely.

A few ants, carefully checking and caring for these little parasites, attended each one of these nurseries. Parasites was my next guess, as, I assumed, parked on a young succulent branch gave them access to easy sustenance.

I always thought that ants lived in an underground nest where a queen would produce eggs cared for by the ant community. Surely safer than sending a parade of ants, which I had also noticed, to a tree to care for the next generation.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me about this crazy ant behaviour. Have they been infected by some brain disease, or heading to the next stage of evolution? The exposed progeny were certainly in danger as a strong jet from my garden hose confirmed.

Thinking about evolution, reminded me of a difficulty evolution poses itself. Why don’t ants rule the world? Based on survival of the fittest, species that clone have a distinct advantage over those that propagate sexually.

Flaws in the genes of parents of sexual reproduction mean that offspring are also flawed and liable to disease and failure of purpose—reproduction. Besides, sexual reproduction (apart from conception!) is slow and laborious, compared with an insect queen churning out an assembly line of identical flawless copies.

Besides, even the Bible points to the ant as more industrious than humans are, “Go to the ant, you sluggard”! Proverbs 6:6. In addition, they are far more efficient and less destructive in building their empires.

The most likely reason for their low status on the planet’s pecking order, is that they are designed to be less thoughtful than humans are, purposefully limited in their ability and capacity to think beyond their little world—even if it means putting eggs in trees!

And I have yet to meet an ant that is worried about facing God in the next life!

Jack Layton's Last Words

 

“My friends, love is better than anger. 

Hope is better than fear. 

Optimism is better than despair.

So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. 

And we’ll change the world.” 

Jack Layton.

As Jack Layton is laid to rest, thousands of Canadians mourn the passing of this extraordinary man and hang on to his last words. His record as a humanitarian and likable politician—no mean feat—will be fondly remembered, by the nation, including me.

I believed his politics unworkable, but respected the man himself, his passion and energy were inspiring, and few of us will attain that standard, and most like me will fall miserably short. Yet his words at the head of this blog, as inspiring as they sound, leave something to be desired.

While no one will dispute that the positive is better than the negative, I wonder what secures his hope and optimism and what motivates his love. The state of the world has not improved throughout history, and it’s not hard to speculate it has declined during the appalling last century.

If our eyes are upon human progress, hope is against hope, and optimism fails to face the truth about life on earth. I watched a lady from Afghanistan last week say, with tears; she has lost hope for her country. Even if Afghanistan becomes stable, war, famine, or plague will break out elsewhere.

But that is not to say that we have no reason for hope or optimism, but its basis must be beyond human endeavour, for our hope is “not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4:18.

For the Christian, faith replaces both optimism and fear, as, despite the world’s problems, we see God working his purposes out in history, and our efforts contributing to His kingdom coming, and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven, Matthew 6:10.

And our love for others is not prompted by reward or primarily their need. It is a reflection and continuation of the greatest love of all: the love God has expressed for us in Jesus Christ. We maintain our faith, hope and love, often in the face of reality, because they are secured in the certainty of His promises.

Discipline or Inspiration

The advice to wannabe writers is to write something every day. That is good discipline, and a worthy objective. The challenge is: what to write? Does discipline mean writing something of poor value or pat answers when inspiration is at a low ebb?

Or is it better to wait for inspiration? Here the problem is: will it ever come? Occasionally inspiration comes as I write, other times I struggle to say something helpful and finish with just words. Leave them or scrub them, it would make no difference.

Add to the mix a focus elsewhere, where inspiration is mandatory. That produces thin inspiration for secondary projects. I guess that is where I sit today: struggling for something to blog when the world’s joy and misery cries out for comment—for me both tragedy and travesty!

So from today, I will take some time each Sunday to centre on wider issues beyond my immediate weekday focus. Perhaps less quantity and more quality is the goal. Still, I hope, a worthwhile mix of discipline and inspiration!

P.S. I'm shocked to hear of the death of Jack Layton. Could never agree with his politics, but liked him immensely. Our deep condolences to Olivia chow and his family.

the Faces of Evil

What is the common factor between the Somali famine and the London riots? Lawlessness! Half of Somalia is under the violent “rule” of armed thugs who have no regard for human life. They are content to let the population die of starvation and even kill them if deemed convenient to their cause

The London riots only differ in the “sticks and stones” armament they had to advance their rampage. Again, there was no value placed on human life in the fires set and deliberate deaths that occurred. Both these tragic events demonstrate human evil that expresses itself when no rule of law exists, or can be easily flouted.

Make no mistake, without the rule of law, every city and community on earth would face the same anarchy. The problem is not poverty or disenfranchisement; that is simply an excuse for evil action. Corporate executives will defraud without conscience if they consider they can avoid prosecution.

Evil rooted in the human soul causes the violence and misery so much of the world endures. Since the murder of Abel, humankind has not found an “answer” to this dilemma. Spiritual deformity requires spiritual action, and only the provision for cleansing in Jesus Christ can reverse the slide to evil.

But as long as some in all corners of the earth reject the notion of final accountability, evil will continue to flourish. But it will continue to provoke God’s call to “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and our call: “Come, Lord Jesus.”

No Excuse

Another outdoor stage collapses. And as usual, it is “freak” weather that is to blame. For three to collapse in two years—Alberta in 2009, Ottawa last month, and Indiana yesterday—suggests freak weather is not so freaky!

Watching yesterday’s collapse on television, the twisting and buckling motion of the fall indicated insufficient diagonal bracing allowed the structure to fall. In addition, the huge roof structure provided a top heavy configuration that was potentially dangerous.

Furthermore, these structures are by their nature set up in exposed places to allow thousands of fans to congregate around them. Clearly, standards for their erection are inadequate, although engineers responsible for the design of these flimsy assemblies had the Alberta collapse to alert them.

Of course, the weather can be ferocious, as the recent tornado season stateside has shown. We cannot plan for the unexpected, but three events in two years are hardly unexpected. We can plan for events that are likely, more so those that are certain—death and taxes.

While most of us pay our taxes, I am totally at a loss why few prepare for death. We may be able to evade taxes, but death is inevitable. Why live with the fear of death when Jesus Christ has provided a dread free transition into eternity?

God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. People around us die daily; we have no excuse to be unprepared for that event.