Samuel Orr, a filmmaker. Published May 28, 2013, Youtube.
"O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures." -- Psalms 104:24
They were crawling all over me yesterday at two outside parties I attended on Memorial Day, and they creeped me out! I had flashbacks of when I was 15 and Doug Trout and Darren Cummings put a shell down my shirt and scarred me for life! Yesterday,as we sat in the shade of a large tree, there were times the song of these creepy creatures were louder than our conversation. They really are strange critters, with their weird red eyes.
As we sat there complaining about them, a friend said that he thought they were a tribute to the power, mystery and reliability of God. Those bugs KNOW to crawl out of the ground every 17 years...not 16, not 18, not 12, but 17 years. You can COUNT on them.
Contemplate the mystery. People across the world and over thousands of years have also contemplated them. The cicada is a sacred animal in their Chinese culture, and they are considered to be a symbol of resurrection and rebirth. An Italian myth describes a story of a young woman with a beautiful voice. It is said that her voice was so beautiful that when she died, the gods missed her voice so much, they allowed her to return to earth every so often as a cicada so she could continue to sing to them. There is also an ancient Greek ode to the cicada that says, "We call you happy, O cicada, because after you have drunk a little dew from the treetops you sing like a queen."
Puts a little different spin on the creepiness of them, doesn't it? I watched the video I posted above, and was also touched by the life cycle of the cicada. They live underground for 17 years and emerge with one purpose...to hatch, mate and continue the life cycle. I love the picture of thousands of them marching UP the tree...reaching up as far as they can. Some die before they reach their goal. Some never make it out of their shell. But...some make it out and spend the rest of their short out of the ground lives searching for their purpose and sing, sing sing!
I have seen the cicada phenomenon twice before in my life, but this year it has come to mean more to me. Maybe because I realize I have less time left in my life, or maybe I just think too much. But, I want to use the example of that weird, creepy little creature in my own life. I want to keep searching for my purpose, march onward and upward, marvel in the mystery, power and reliability of God and sing, sing sing!
As we sat there complaining about them, a friend said that he thought they were a tribute to the power, mystery and reliability of God. Those bugs KNOW to crawl out of the ground every 17 years...not 16, not 18, not 12, but 17 years. You can COUNT on them.
Contemplate the mystery. People across the world and over thousands of years have also contemplated them. The cicada is a sacred animal in their Chinese culture, and they are considered to be a symbol of resurrection and rebirth. An Italian myth describes a story of a young woman with a beautiful voice. It is said that her voice was so beautiful that when she died, the gods missed her voice so much, they allowed her to return to earth every so often as a cicada so she could continue to sing to them. There is also an ancient Greek ode to the cicada that says, "We call you happy, O cicada, because after you have drunk a little dew from the treetops you sing like a queen."
Puts a little different spin on the creepiness of them, doesn't it? I watched the video I posted above, and was also touched by the life cycle of the cicada. They live underground for 17 years and emerge with one purpose...to hatch, mate and continue the life cycle. I love the picture of thousands of them marching UP the tree...reaching up as far as they can. Some die before they reach their goal. Some never make it out of their shell. But...some make it out and spend the rest of their short out of the ground lives searching for their purpose and sing, sing sing!
I have seen the cicada phenomenon twice before in my life, but this year it has come to mean more to me. Maybe because I realize I have less time left in my life, or maybe I just think too much. But, I want to use the example of that weird, creepy little creature in my own life. I want to keep searching for my purpose, march onward and upward, marvel in the mystery, power and reliability of God and sing, sing sing!
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