The Parting Line | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: The Parting Line | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gp Njoku
04/02/15
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So ants are wise. Wise enough to appear twice in the Bible. I started hearing about ants since my early days. Every morning and night, my Dad will illustrate the wisdom of ants in many ways. As a kid, I will go on staring at ant, hoping for a dialogue. At times, I will go on yelling “Hello Dom, I want to help you If only I know where you are going or what you are looking for. Obviously, that’s before I figured exactly how long a year actually is.

Now a grown man, sitting at the corridor of the house, I couldn’t help gazing at the beauty of nature around me. My blink rate reduced thanks to the combined color of the cloud just above a dancing bunch of trees. The melodies generated by the birds successfully diverted my ears from lousy sound of generators and horns of vehicles. The shirt wasn’t expensive enough to prevent my body direct access to the gentle breeze. As the enjoyment continued, I felt something different. “That’s thicker than I breeze” I thought. Looking behind my shoulder, my suspicion was right, it was not breeze or mosquito, It was little Dom. The ant was majestically walking all over my body. I am enjoying the beauty of nature, why not Dom? Sure, I granted the ant a prolonged once-in-a-lifetime tour of my body. After all, I have learnt a lot from ants over the years. I reckon you have too. Well, Robert Rushmore definitely has.

Fast forward, my time at the corridor was coming to an end. I think a quick thanksgiving prayer would be nice to end the nature tour, I whispered. Immediately under my waste, I felt a pinch.” It definitely has got to be mosquito”, I thought. You know the way involuntary action works, before I knew it, I had smacked my waste. Behold, it wasn’t a mosquito, it was Dom. Oh no! Really? Did I just kill an ant? That’s what I never imagined doing. Regretful thoughts began to pour in, “I should have gone in earlier”. “Dom should have left my body earlier.” “Why did Dom decide to bite me”? “I should have looked before smacking”. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything I could do now, the ant is dead. I could only say sorry while carrying taking Dom to a corner, hoping for some overnight miracle. Early morning the next day, there was an entourage of ants around where I left Dom. They had gathered to carry Dom away. I wasn’t sure why, but I hoped it was for a befitting burial.

What’s significant about my encounter with Dom? Ants are quite unique creatures, colony existence is often a priority than individual survival. If however, any of them die while fighting for the colony, they are often respected. From the colony, ants disperse in search of food site for the colony. When they find something (including a dead ant), they return to the colony with the information. A team is then delegated to bring large portion if not all of the food back home. The same applies if it is a dead ant. However, when they are looking for food, they are left alone. On the day, little Dom came to my body, after initial assessment (the walking around my body without resistance from me) it must have suspected that this is a dead being. The only confirmatory test is biting. I bet the Dom knew this could lead to death, it didn’t matter, survival of the colony is more important. Dom is probably not married, I wouldn’t even be surprised if the parents died few days ago. Any record showing Dom hasn’t eaten for days might not be adulterated. Dom could be carrying ailment. Inability to find food site for the past few attempt may have caused Dom an emotional stress. All that seem long stories, as for Dom the colony survival is more important, really it worth dying for. Dom, what is your parting line? “It is well with my soul” the ant will definitely say any day, anytime.

Prioritize God above any other thing around you today, you will end up discovering the same.

It begins with accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

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