Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
The intriguing, awesome power of the tiny spider
I
tried not to do it. I did not want to do it. I can’t believe I am doing it.
But, yielding to temptation, here I am writing about spiders again.
Responding
to my first article about spiders and things which make me cringe, several
readers dubbed me “
Everyone shares my disgust with spider webs.
All of us, of course, are awed by the intricate beauty of the webs, and the
speed with which they spun. Such masterful work by so tiny a creature is
intriguing, to say the least.
A good
friend in
No one took
me to task for disliking spiders, not even my old friend, Dr. Bob Mount. I am
still waiting, with baited breath, to learn about the great contribution that
spiders make to the human race.
I would be
the last person to suggest that our loving God does not have a purpose for
spiders. Surely everything God creates has a reason for being. So far I simply
cannot, with my puny brain, figure out why spiders are here.
Any day now
I expect to be informed that scientists have discovered that the spider’s
poison can be used to cure some dread disease. Actually I have been reading the
stories about the latest Nobel Prize winners, wondering if some German
scientist might be recognized for his spider poison research. Alas, no luck so
far.
Excuse me
just a moment. A little black spider has just emerged from under my desk.
Instinctively my size 14 shoe dropped on the scurrying rascal, sending him (or
her) on an unexpected ride into eternity.
Now I am fighting guilt. Albert Schweitzer
would not have been proud of me. The great missionary to
Spiders obviously have awesome
power. Consider, for example, that it may have been a tiny spider that caused
the Atlanta Braves to lose the recent play-off series with the San Francisco
Giants.
The press
reported that star outfielder Chipper Jones was bitten on the top of his head
by a spider. Though it was not a lethal bite, the spider’s sting did create
some distressing moments for Jones. I bet he never puts on another baseball cap
without shaking it as he looks for spiders.
Had it not
been for the spider bite, Chipper might have driven in some runs to help the
Braves win the final game in the series. So perhaps, just perhaps, it was not
Barry Bonds but a tiny spider that denied
I suppose
spiders have been around pretty much since the Big Bang. That makes me wonder
why spiders have not “evolved” into some other creatures. If a little fish
walked out of the sea, became a bird, and finally a man, what on earth have
spiders been doing all this time? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
For
whatever reason I find it difficult to shed any tears when I hear about some
plants, animals, and insects that are threatened with extinction. The dinosaurs
and the Dodo bird are with us no more.
Recently we
lost the freshwater gastropod mollusk. Now there is a great loss for you. Think
about it. Next time you eat at Cock of the Walk, you won’t be able to order
some fried gastropod mollusks. Shame, shame.
We are told
that there are now 11,167 plants and animals threatened with extinction. Now,
please, don’t become overly alarmed.
Somehow, by the grace of God, we will find a way to do without them, and
life will go on.
But, why, I must ask, could not
most of these creepy little spiders have been on the list. I know, I know, we
can never understand everything. But I guess it doesn’t hurt to wonder.
If, for example, we must share the
world with 90 million dogs, why can’t we teach the dogs to eat spiders?