Slimy Slugs

Slugs are gross. Another burning question for God when I get to heaven: Why slugs? That’s right after, why didn’t we get a third set of teeth? (And maybe, explain the reason for midges, please?)

One of the most prolific living things in our garden is slugs. And their cousins the snails. Voracious appetites. Sliming along munching our strawbs and lettuce and spinach – nothing redeeming about them as far as I can tell.

This morning I spied the tell-tale trail of one wandering round the doormat. The very rough doormat at the garden door. A modicum of sympathy for him as I thought of how bad that must feel on an exposed belly. Well, then, but what was he doing inside my house? Should have stayed outside in the pouring rain.

He got into the house, but he was flummoxed by the scratchy doormat. The doormat is there to stop the dirt (and slugs) from entering the house. Great thing to have.

It’s good to have a scratchy doormat on every entry way to one’s mind and spirit. There are an awful lot of slimy ideas in current culture. If we’re not vigilant, they can slide into our thoughts and begin to transform our thinking in ugly ways, ways that intertwine and gradually become entangled with the godly thoughts we previously held. 

That scratchy doormat is the Word of God, in writing and in person, and the Holy Spirit. It is friends who hold us accountable. It is meditative listening for that still small voice. 

Be alert, Jesus ordered. Don’t let any of those gross ideas move in with you.

Something I Ate...

I was just trying to avoid throwing food away. So I ate a couple of out-of-date items I found in the fridge, purchased over the holiday period when our home was a hive of activity. 

I should have rejected them both. I didn’t particularly want them. I just felt guilty throwing food away.

I spent the night vomiting, violently, and now, two days later, still feel a bit on the queasy side. Enough said.

The Bible regularly identifies the Word of God as food for the soul. We are to eat it, read it, chew it over, allow it to feed our souls with good nourishment. Most of us spend much more time chewing on words which don’t feed our souls. Some of these words are like fast food, pleasing to taste but lacking nutritional value. Others are poison, not just failing to enrich but positively making our spirits sick. 

The news is sparking with stories of sick people doing unspeakable things to others. We live in a culture of sound-bites and alarmist headlines, and many react without taking time to really chew over the facts of situations and allowing God to speak into them.

The antidote to sick thinking is healthy living, healthy food. We need to watch what we eat.