I woke up last night with a memory from this past summer. My wife and I were spending a few days in Berkshires with our daughter and four-year-old granddaughter.
Let me state clearly, I am not a fan of bugs, neither the crawling type nor the flying ones. OK, so being in the woods might not be the ideal place for me, but you know, the beauty and peacefulness outweigh the annoyances.
Suddenly, I saw what looked like a small black shoe running across the room and into the pantry. It was a beetle…a LARGE beetle. Of course, my first instinct was to grab a shoe, broom, hammer or small cannon to eliminate the threat.
As I moved items out of the way to find this massive creature, I grabbed the dust buster and figured, “OK, I will suck this bad boy up.” But my granddaughter yelled to me, “Papa, don’t dead it!” She was emphatic in her pleading. And if you know me, I am a complete mush when it comes to those I love.
Moving aside a box, I found the crawling disaster and turned on the dustbuster only to find out that the opening was too small to suck up the monster; but the suction held it firm while I moved swiftly outside to release it back from whence it came.
Yeah, the beetle was no threat…and my granddaughter firmly planted her flag as to the value of life. I gave her a hug and told her that the beetle got lost and is now with its family.
Yes, life is important, precious, and meaningful….if we mindfully respect that fact and live our lives with purpose and on purpose.
