Ants go marching
August 8 2018
The ants in the park were going after the pieces of biscuit that the kids did not finish. The three little ones had brought their McDonald’s breakfast to the park, and once they finished eating, they wanted to feed the squirrels. But the little furry creatures did not want to get too close to the kids. The kids waited patiently and that was when they noticed the ants.
Filly remembered an art exhibit one time in a museum of ants, probably in Denver museum of Art, climbing on top of themselves to build like a mountain, with one ant finally getting to the top over all the other ants, and then all the ants falling down and the mountain crumbling…and then the ants starting back again. The exhibit was to convey the “futility of life, work, success” portraying it as fleeting, and happening only at the expense of others.
Interestingly enough, the ants that Filly and the kids were watching in the park this day, were doing the exact opposite of what the museum exhibit showed. The ants were a team, side by side with other ants to carry a part of a large piece of biscuit. They went together over rough terrain. No ant was on top, just riding along…all were working. And they were not trying to get on top of each other either. Instead of going up, they were going down underground, to take the food to the babies in the hill.
So two different and contrasting views of ants. One positive and good, one negative and bad. Filly thought about the song she had listened to earlier in the day. The other woman. Filly thought that the song was talking about how this man was in love with the other woman. But the other woman was cheating, sneaking, lying. Filly thought about how the song could be viewed completely opposite of what was being sung. What if a woman considered herself as being “the other woman” and as good, moral, pure and strong…a woman who could resist temptations, a woman who kept her promise to be faithful and true…The OTHER woman. What if she was in love with THAT other women, she could see immorality as impersonal and could fight off evil suggestions so that marriage could survive, and families would maintain strong foundations. The other woman that society would love, was the one who did not let cheating take a seat in the real estate of her mind. A good ant.
Ants were useful, purposeful and indestructible ideas of good. So was Marriage, purposeful and useful and an indestructible idea. So were little children and the structure of their environment of good.
There were lots of men as well, who were like the good ants. The song Wichita lineman came to Filly’s thought. In that song, a strong man, a seemingly ordinary man, did an extraordinary job keeping the lines of communication open. A lonely, isolating type of work, where it would be easy to go take advantage of the relative freedom to do whatever. Even when he needed a vacation, the lineman did not falter. Cheating could be seen as a form of taking a vacation from marriage. But it cost a lot more than just the funds needed when a man left marriage and “took a vacation” from it. The Wichita Lineman was indeed still on the line. The song was powerful, as was the ability to do something hard and seemingly rare. Especially when coming from a regular blue collar worker guy, the salt of the earth. Filly loved it and what it conveyed. The man was only listening for his wife…
“Then Jesus said, “whoever had ears to hear, let him hear”
There was power in what a person listened to and believed was true of themselves or of others. Choosing to believe what was good, aligned with God.