A Case of Busyness
When I was a boy, a transplant from California way before the turn of the century (back in the 70’s), we moved and landed smack dab in the middle of Arkansas. I was seven when we found this new place to call home, and I hadn’t really been exposed to country life. But I soon became quite acclimated to it, which meant that this boy began to learn the joys of wandering up and down the creek near our home.
One curious thing that began to grab my attention at the creek was the random little black water bugs. They were interestingly fast, darting about on the surface of the water and very difficult to follow because of their quick, jerky movements. So, what did I do? Well, I made a game out of picking up rocks and doing my best to bomb those little black floating targets. And of course, when I had little success at hitting one, I would look for larger boulders to splash them to smithereens. Not much success there either, but fun nonetheless.
Now, I have to forewarn you. Don’t try this at home. This is confession time.
Somewhere in the course of my boyhood adventures, this boy was introduced to his first BB gun. Yep, the dreaded thing that could shoot your eye out. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing for a boy to possess, but nonetheless, I was equipped with a “toy” that could hurl some lethal action toward something in my immediate vicinity. I’m certain I was properly instructed as to the dangers of my new weapon, what to do and what not to do, but likely let that information pass through one ear and out the other.
So, what did I do? Well, soon enough, I marched down to the creek and found great joy in giving those little black water bugs a run for their money. I was no longer looking for stones or boulders, but instead was wearing out my arm cocking that BB gun, one round after another, and giving those harmless bugs something to be worried about. Needless to say, as far as I can tell, no bugs were harmed in the writing of this story. Nor was this fellow blinded by a stray BB, thank goodness.
Fast forward to today, where my curiosity is quite different and I am a good bit more mellow as a grown man. In my walk to the creek this morning I happened upon some quiet shallow areas of the creek and, low and behold, there were some of the little black water bugs I had seen decades earlier as a boy. I watched and watched as they darted about, busy, busy, busy. They were so busy they were hard to follow with my eyes. So, I decided to shoot them, except this time not with a BB gun or rocks, but with my camera.
Oh, those little critters, aka whirligig beetles, were hard to capture through the lens of my phone, but I managed to home in on some of their movement. As I was watched them, it occurred to me that those bugs are so much like most people in our modern society. People are whirling about crazily in circles, seemingly not knowing what on earth they are running around about. I’m sure those bugs, as well as people, have great intentions, but in the midst of it all they just seem to be getting nowhere. I’ve got a good notion that God designed into those beetles that wild activity to sustain their existence, which really demonstrates God’s imagination in all of creation.
At the end of my discovery and photo shoot, as I was beginning to get worn out watching the little creatures, I noticed one that got off to itself. Then, all of a sudden, I saw it swim slowly to a small rock sticking up out of the water, just about the same size as the beetle’s body, and crawl out for a rest. Because I learned that they are very sensitive to movement, I moved very slowly toward it and was able to snap some great photos.
A whirligig beetle, taking a break atop a small rock outcropping
So, what have I learned from this grand experiment watching beetles at the creek today? Well, even God put enough sense in a whirligig beetle to stop and take a break, to rest and not get worn out. We all need that, you know. We need to pause at certain times through our day and week, stop to breathe, to think, to reflect on our existence and what our next moves are as we pursue God’s grand purposes for our lives.
We, as people, need to stop whirligigging around so much. We need to find a “rock” and take a break. Even God rested after He created the world. We should too!