I noticed a praying mantis on my windscreen as I drove to the North Shore the other day. Surely this little insect can’t hang on for the whole trip as I sped along the motorway. I was certain the wind and speed of the car would whip the tiny creature off and away into the air. I arrived at my destination and it was still there. I took a photo of it to celebrate its achievement. In fact, it made its way back into the city on my return trip. I tried to liberate it onto a plant, but it climbed onto my back and then disappeared. I discovered it the next day on the side of my water bottle with its big googly eyes seemingly watching me in the car. It made me smile. This funny little green insect was teaching me a lesson in perseverance and determination. “I am still here. You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
Jesus asks his disciples in the Gospel this morning taken from Luke 24:35-48, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; it is I indeed.’ They witnessed his living and risen presence among them which filled them with great joy and zeal to tell others about all that had happened and that he had explained to them.
There are tough situations we experience and choices we make in our lives that cause us to be agitated and to doubt the Lord’s living presence with us. It is easy to give up, lose faith or turn in on ourselves and put up barriers. Sometimes we simply need to hang in there and trust that we will get there like my little friend the praying mantis who finally plucked up the courage to climb onto my hand and happily hopped onto a shrub in the garden.
Listen to 'Those little Things' from the album Golden Light.
