A Leaf, A Turtle, A Caterpillar, and a Snail

Quick side updates - MaryAnn and I had a great conversation about one of my favorite shows of all time, Battlestar Galactica. If you want to watch the full conversation, click here.

Ok, let’s start with

The Leaf

From a few mornings ago…Like other photos I shared at other times, this is a small leaf that got caught on a single virtually-invisible spiderweb. Simply there spinning gently in the breeze - held by what looked to be some invisible force.

Something spoke to me when I saw the photos appearing on the screen on the back of my camera, especially after seeing these next two photos...

What I heard in my heart and mind was “be the one that stands out.” What I mean by that isn’t simply to stand out from the crowd like the one person wearing bright colors in the midst of neutral tones but instead be the one that stands out in speaking or acting for what is right and what is needed. Don’t be the one that simply just “goes along” with what is taking place but instead be the voice that speaks something different or does something different.

In this case, it was not only seeing this moment on the side of the path but also sharing it as I am doing here.

But what about the turtle, the caterpillar, and the snail?

The Turtle

I don’t have a photo of the turtle, but instead a story from my wife. She was recently away with her family and at one point while driving, she saw a turtle slowly making its way across a fairly busy street. She could have just kept going along at 30mph and let whatever would happen happen. But she stopped and got out and picked the turtle up (by the edges of the shell of course) and carried it to the other side of the street. She didn’t mention whether there was traffic backing up behind her or whether others complained about her slowing up their drives but there’s a good chance that someone felt that way. But she noticed this turtle and saw that it was in danger and she took action.

The Caterpillar

Another walk for me and Scout at the same park as the leaf above.

I hadn’t seen a caterpillar like this before and getting down close to it with the macro on my phone helped me to see it in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to with the naked eye. But it was moving slowly across the path where there were plenty of people out running or those (like me) walking with their dogs. It was in danger of being all too easily stepped on. I didn’t pick it up but I got down close to it for long enough that I saw it reached the edge of the path and into the grass.

The Snail

Not long after was this beautiful little one. Check out the intricacies of its shell! Same as with the caterpillar - tiny to the naked eye and, like the turtle as well, in serious danger of not being seen and easily stepped on.

This one was moving even more slowly of course than the caterpillar and it had just started onto the path towards the other side. In this case, I gently slid a piece of paper in front of the snail and carried it over to the side where it moved off the paper and into the grass. But same thing - noticing and acting.

The morning after seeing the leaf (and a few mornings after the caterpillar and the snail), I came to a particularly relevant chapter in my current daily reading, For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional by Dr. Hanna Reichel. The chapter is entitled “Do Something Brave” or Make a Start. In the chapter, Dr. Reichel shares about a woman in 1943 Germany named Sophie Scholl who, along with her brother Hans, was arrested for distributing antiwar fliers at the University of Munich. They quote from her writings and her trial extensively in the chapter but starts with this.

“Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said—many others believe the same things. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.”¹

Dr. Reichel continues by sharing of how it is estimated that well over half of the people of Germany in the 30s and 40s were not active Nazi supporters but were simply those who were bystanders and just tried to go on with life even as the Nazi atrocities continued and grew. Dr. Reichel writes:

The Nazis never were in the majority. Those who simply “went along” were absolutely critical to the regime’s success....Indifference is consent to what is happening. Inaction is a choice to leave it unchallenged. Under conditions of injustice and violence, there is no neutrality, only active resistance or enablement.²

Throughout history when atrocities are happening, there are those who are committing the atrocities and those who know of the atrocities and simply choose to not say or do anything. This feels like an echo of what I wrote a few weeks ago about “seeing something and saying something.” But it is so vital at all times, and as Dr Riechel’s book is entitled...it is vital for such a time as this.

It is vital for us to not only be aware of those who are in danger and those who are being actively harmed but for us to take actions when the moment arises. Dr Reichel shares this towards the end of the chapter...

Think for yourself.
Make your own choices.
Be as brave as you can, as early as you can.
Expect to be uncomfortable....
But for God’s sake, don’t be a bystander.³

Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Ed

PS - Scout and I had a wonderful hike at Cincinnati Nature Center on Saturday morning and we visited their new ear-nocular! You can read about it here - it was really awesome!

1. Reichel, Hanna. For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional (p. 68).. Kindle Edition.

2. Reichel, Hanna. For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional (pp. 68-70). Kindle Edition.

3. Reichel, Hanna. For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional (pp. 70-71). Kindle Edition.