Submitted by: eveeden | View Member Profile | View Other Posts
Created: 7/16/2003
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What Nature Has Taught Me
By Reva Wallace-Moore
During the past month, I ran into two friends whom I’ve not seen in a while. Both commented that I now look happy and relaxed compared to three years ago. Well, the saying that says, “Time does heal wounds,” is right. But there are also other factors that help one get back on track after a tragedy. Here’s one of them.
Three years ago, I was taken out of my routine lab work to rewrite laboratory procedures. So for four months, I shared an office with Monica, our lab clerk. Initially, I was thankful that my desk was close to the window, until I saw that my outside view was only a brick wall of the adjacent building. Hence, my picture window wasn’t a big thrill for me at all…….until one day.
It was a gloomy Monday morning. I sat idly, gazing at the window - my mood reflecting the weather outside. I had just lost my husband to cancer, and my world was turned upside down. What else can go wrong with my life? Life isn’t fair at all. That morning my mind was full of questions and conclusions. However, I was thankful for I’ve been blessed with two wonderful sons.
As I blankly stared at the window assessing my life, I saw a most unusual sight. On the glass, a spider was chasing a fly. The devourer was slightly bigger than its prey, and it probably was savoring and smacking its gums in delight.
“This is an easy meal for me,” the spider probably thought.
On the other hand, the fly probably was frozen with fear, seeing its devourer eye to eye, that it forgot to “fly” out of the situation. So it crept about slowly. But everywhere it moved to, the unrelenting enemy was right there on its front.
So the chase went on. I tried timing it. Every few minutes, the spider would stop chasing, as if it was tired. And the fly would stop moving also. But after a few seconds, the chase continued. It was a slow chase. I can compare it to two young children with the chaser trying to trap the other.
I was amused as I watched the long struggle. I called Monica over, and we both laughed as we watched. Finally, the spider gave up and crawled to the other side of the glass window. The fly just sat there for a long time, probably still terrified, wondering if the spider was coming back. It (fly) probably thought its end had come while the chase was going on. After a while, I looked at the window again and the fly was gone.
Why did we find it amusing? It was because it was a “No Win” situation for the chaser anyway, for in between the spider and the fly was the glass of the window.
After what I had just witnessed, I looked at my life again. Just like the fly, I could allow life’s uncertainties and tragedies keep me afraid forever that I’d forget to live again. I can continue to feel horrible and have a lot of self-pity, or I can rise above my misery. So right there and then, I decided, I wasn’t going to allow “it” to ruin me anymore. I decided to get on with my life. There is this Higher Power - God Almighty - Whom I've entrusted my life to. Just like the glass that kept the fly away from the reach of the spider, He is my protector.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalms 27:1
(Note: I remembered this experience and wrote this article on June, 2002. A month later I heard about CSD and joined. Today, I'm happily married to Mr. Irlant E. Moore whom I met in CSD last November, 2002. We were married last June 7, 2003. God is sooooo gooood! )
