Garden Spider
John Miller
10/21/21
- Windstream Mail
R E F L E C T I O N S Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 10/11/21 ___________________________________________________________ "Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. " - Acts 17:29 |
|
|
 |
After leaving our church building one Sunday morning recently, several of us were treated to a work of art being constructed among the flowers that were planted near our parking lot. A large garden spider was at work building her web. Garden spiders are members of a group of spiders called orb weavers. These spiders build circular webs to snare insects, then hide nearby with a single strand of webbing connected to one of their legs. When an insect is trapped in the web, the garden spider can feel the vibrations and then move in to dispatch its victim. A close examination of these webs or the beauty of their designers is a lesson in art that often surpasses even the greatest efforts of human artists . Most of nature is not chaos, but carefully crafted art. And art predisposes an artist. And the presence of many lesser artists predisposes an even greater Artist who created all lesser artists. But a spider's web is nothing like the spider who made it, and the spider who made it is nothing like the Maker of all spiders. So, learn to appreciate all art whenever and wherever you find it, but let that art point you ultimately to the Artist who created all art. The art we find in nature is not to be worshipped, but the First Cause of all art certainly is worthy of our worship. I hope you don't think less of me for saying this, but I found myself worshipping God more as I photographed this spider than I did when I was in our church building that morning. Maybe it is because there is a purity in nature that surpasses what is usually found in our worship assemblies. Or maybe it is because I find more beauty and honesty in the natural world than I find in myself. - John
