The Parable of the Spider

Spiders are fascinating, to say the very least. Yucky and icky and kind of scary, too, at times. But hey, I'm the mom, so I'm on Spider Patrol most of the time.

Last Fall I helped a friend pressure wash her house. On the .... hmmm .... don't really know the direction of the side of the house, but let's just say on the "garage" side of the house, where LOTS of spiders live. You know, those big ugly ones....probably as scared of me as I am a bit nervous of them....but LOTS of them. As I pressure washed I was simply amazed at their behavior. My "Get Rid of Them" mode of operation came out strong and I sprayed directly at them for all I was worth...getting as close as I could possibly handle without thinking they would ricochet off the house and directly at me. THAT would not be good! I may be on Spider Patrol at my house, but out in the country....NO WAY. I swat and freak out with the best of them.

Come to think of it....I have had a lot of learning experiences with spiders lately.

Here is the latest ... which closely resembles that of the pressure washing the house incident of last fall.

I teach early morning seminary. Because my sweet family is asleep when I leave, I take my blow dryer to the church and do my hair there so as to not wake them prematurely. To blow dry my hair I simply flip it upside down and blow for all I'm worth. Funny how a lot of contemplation gets done in those few minutes of each morning -- it's like the revelatory place of the shower.

This morning I saw a common spider in the corner under the sink. I have never seen it there before. I tried an experiment, remembering the pressure washing experience. I blew the solid hot air right at it. I was amazed to see that this little spider reacted in the exact same way as the spiders on the side of the house -- it curled up and ran to a safe place. Surprisingly, no matter how hard the water from the pressure washer, nor how hot the air from my blow dryer, the spiders did not die. In their curled up state, in a safe place, they withstood even the harshest conditions.

ASTONISHING!!!!!

I don't know if it was the early morning hour, the pre-seminary spirit, or the residual General Conference Spirit, or ALL of them meshed together that got my little brain thinking. But ponder I did. And here is what I came up with.....

Regardless of the harsh conditions the Adversary, or LIFE, throws at me I can just be like a spider (the creature I thought I hated the most) and 1. curl up, 2. run to a safe place, and 3. realize that I WON'T die.

I thought what it might mean to "curl up." Maybe not expose myself willingly to the fiery darts of the Adversary? Maybe that is my armor of God? It's a thought I will continue to ponder. And what of the "safe place?" The spiders on the side of the house went under the siding as best they could. Most just hid in a corner, curled up, yet still exposed. This morning that poor little spider could only curl up and get as close to the corner as it possibly could. A "safe" place? My home? The Church? The Temple? All would suffice, I believe. But sometimes we cannot get OUT of the storm and must weather it full force. But the instincts of the spiders and our own instincts to stay safe would lead us to NOT open ourselves up to the storm, but weather it with as much safety as we possibly can.

The nursery rhyme, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" comes to mind. I guess I never realized how much can be learned from that simple little nursery rhyme.

I am sure my pondering brain will come up with more analogies to this spider incident. I may even write an actual parable to blog about.....not just my contemplation on the matter. But what truly perplexes me is that I can learn so very much about life from the creature I thought I hated the most in life. (I feel another story from my mission coming on.....later...this post is long enough) So, despite this aversion to those 8 legged critters, I am pleased to be learning from them as well.