Ants

I don’t think of myself as a geek, but the fact that I like ants probably places me in that category.  I’m definitely no myrmecologist; I just think that they’re neat.

My attraction to ants mostly lingers from being a kid that actually spent time outside enjoying creation.  As an adult, I spend more time inside and tend to consider ants a pest.  Nowadays my contact with ants tends to be when they try to invade my pantry and get into my Raisin Bran.

But every once in a while, I still find myself walking along noticing ants scurrying around somewhere.  It is entrancing to watch them move together in an organized type of quick chaos.  It is like watching a sped-up video clip of people walking through a mall or subway station. 

One reason I like ants is because they are small.  My naked eyes can’t see their beady eyes and hairy bodies. Antie would not have been that cute in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids without the wonders of Hollywood make-up. When I see ants in my home, they aren’t as terrifying as a big cockroach.  When I see one of those jokers, I scream like a little girl and try to muster up the courage to kill it if my wife is not around to do it for me.  If I do actually kill it, I think I would feel like a man that has killed a sixteen-point buck with a bow and arrow (I’ve never been hunting at all except for trying to shoot birds with a BB gun – I missed every time).

Even though ants are small, they can do big things. If I had the strength (and mad skills) of an ant, I could walk outside, climb and hang upside down from the ceiling of my carport, and lift my car up off the ground.  I would pretty much have to get some fancy pajamas and call myself Ant-Man. 

I think those of us that respect ants tend to appreciate the way that they work together.  Each colony has different roles and tasks assigned to the different ants.  You feminists might appreciate that male ants don’t do any work except for fertilizing the queen and then dying.  As ants work together, they do work that one ant could never do.  Whether it is carrying away a potato chip or a dead lizard, they show us the importance of cooperation.

In the bigness of life, we feel like ants sometimes. We may feel like we can be squashed by someone’s pinky finger and then just flicked into the breeze. A single ant is a tiny creature that can crawl across your body without you noticing it. You may feel unnoticed in the eyes of the world. It is easy to think that we cannot accomplish anything or do anything significant in life. I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but you will probably be let down if you think you can impact the world on your own. However, if we work together with those around us that are focused on the same things, we can move mountains.

"None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing."
                                   – Benjamin Franklin

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
Proverbs 6:6 // NIV