Underground Movement: Weekly Reflection

Monday 2nd November, Rosemary Melling

Recently something strange started to happen in our garden, something we had absolutely no experience of and were baffled by…at first. Several piles of fresh soil now appear without fail, every morning. Thankfully, they have always been in the same part of the lawn up to now. Our new garden features are linked together by what can only be described as lines of raised grass. Yes, you guessed it, we have acquired tunnelling MOLES!

As the saying goes, “knowledge is power”, so we sought advice from friends and also searched the internet: “cute, furry little animals – almost blind as they live underground, eat worms – but can be a challenge.” I can confirm the truth of that, now that flattening the “hills” has become became a daily task. In fact the next quote about moles rang especially true: “persistent, diligent, hard-working, not easily put off.”.

Maybe we can take a message from this. Christians are tasked with spreading the Gospel. Yet how “persistent, constantly hard-working, diligent, and not easily put off” are we? In Proverbs (Diarhebion) chapter 6, verses 6-11 we read about a tiny creature, the ant. We are advised to observe these small insects and learn from them:

‘Ti’r diogyn, edrych ar y morgrugyn; astudia’i ffyrdd, a dysga sut i fod yn ddoeth. Does ganddo ddim arweinydd, swyddog, na rheolwr, ac eto mae’n mynd ati i gasglu bwyd yn yr haf, a storio’r hyn sydd arno’i angen adeg y cynhaeaf. Am faint wyt ti’n mynd i orweddian yn dy wely, y diogyn? Pryd wyt ti’n mynd i ddeffro a gwneud rhywbeth? “Ychydig bach mwy o gwsg, pum munud arall! Swatio’n gyfforddus yn y gwely am ychydig.” Ond bydd tlodi yn dy daro di fel lleidr creulon; bydd prinder yn ymosod arnat ti fel milwr arfog!’

_{Beibl.net © Gobaith i Gymru}

‘You lazy people can learn by watching an anthill. Ants don’t have leaders, but they store up food during harvest season. How long will you lie there doing nothing at all? When are you going to get up and stop sleeping? Sleep a little. Doze a little. Fold your hands and twiddle your thumbs. Suddenly, everything is gone, as though it had been taken
 by an armed robber.‘ _{Contemporary English Version © American Bible Society}

Our moles ARE diligent AND hard-working so perhaps we could substitute them for ants in the proverb. In fact, thinking about it, Jesus said that his Kingdom grows secretly, like seeds germinating in the earth which are unseen until they produce a harvest crop (Mark 4:26-29). So if we are tempted to ‘fold our hands or twiddle our thumbs’ when there is so much good work to be done for God (but we are hidden away in a lockdown) let’s learn by watching a molehill!

Gweddi / Prayer