One of God's Lessons

We have two legs. They have six. We have one joint
on our leg– the knee. They have three. Imagine the
potential pain of arthritis with three instead of one.

Our brains have 250 million cells compared to their
10 million. Yet their brains are shaped like and
function much like ours. At least that is what the
Science books tell me. They are so tiny, it amazes
me how much scientists can tell us.

We may live as long as 100 years. Their life span is
45-60 days. We go to work somewhere along in our
teens. They are working full time as soon as they
can walk.

Both humans and this species have two eyes
each. But their eyes are made up of many smaller eyes.
They depend upon their sense of smell to find their
way around. For the most part, human beings
depend upon being able to see. Vision is something
many of us take for granted. The little ones of whom
I’m speaking take their sense of smell for granted.

We have one stomach where the food we eat is digested
and sent on its way. They have two stomachs. One
stomach is for regurgitating food they’ve already eaten to
share with others. I’m grateful for our human design.
One stomach is plenty, thank you very much.

They can move 10 to 20 times their body weight
Some human beings work out in the weight room
and develop their rippling biceps to the max. But
few will ever be able to lift and carry 10 to 20 times
their body weight.

Teamwork is the way they get things done on a daily
basis. I wouldn’t want to trade places with them in
God’s grand scheme of things, but we could learn a
lot about how to get along and get things done from
these little bugs.

We have herds of cows from which we get milk and other
basic foods. They take a nectar like food from herds of aphids.
Both humans and these amazing insects cultivate and harvest
gardens. Both spend much time and effort taking care of the young,
making sure they learn what they need to grow up to be responsible
and productive members of society. We both raise up armies to defend
our territory and way of life, to protect the young and the unborn, to
battle to the death when necessary.

Human beings have come up with many different ways
to be governed. In the USA, we look to our President
as our Commander in Chief, though he doesn’t really
tell us what to do in our daily live. They are totally
dependent on a Queen – whose every need is anticipated
and met round the clock. All she does is lay eggs
which the workers then move to safety until they hatch.
When she dies, the kingdom doesn’t last very long
unless another Queen comes along. Of course there
are many other Queens and many other kingdoms.
Life goes on day after day following routines that
no one questions. I’m glad that we have more freedom
and variety in our lives.

Slavery is a shameful chapter of human history. We no
longer condone or practice slavery in our country. But
these critters are slaves to and for their Queen from the
moment of birth. They have even been known to steal
unborn larvae from other nests, patiently waiting for
them to be born and become part of their labor force
without any thought to the Kingdom they were stolen
from. There is order and security for all citizens of
the Kingdom, but I’m partial to our individual human
rights, responsibilities and freedom.

They are phenomenal engineers and their kingdoms
are as incredibly constructed as anything human
hands have ever made. We are often consumed with
our own individual needs and wants. They are
100% committed to serving the common good.
We frequently work against each other. They
consistently work for one another and take care of
each other. We call these little creepy crawlers pests.
Who knows what they call us?

We do everything we can to keep them out of
our homes. They do everything they can to be
part of every picnic. We can wipe out an entire
kingdom with a single step. They can destroy
an entire pantry of food in a single hour.
We have a whole arsenal of weapons we use
against them. But they are too numerous for
us to wipe out completely. Good thing, too.
There is a lot that ants can teach us – pests
though they be. There are things like that
regurgitation bit, the slavery and the working
round the clock that I can live without.

But that ability to be completely focused
on what is best for the Kingdom is admirable.
That tradition of always working together
is another good trait. World peace would
be a piece of cake. But the reality is that
we are human beings. And those little
ants are pests. Still, I will study them some
more and see what else they have to teach.

Maybe I’ll ask Santa to bring
me an Ant Farm for Christmas. Ants are
proof that God, our Creator, does indeed
work in mysterious ways - giving us all
kinds of critters to study and learn from.

Some of these Ant Facts were found at:
http://www.lingolex.com/ants.htm