The Ant and the Contact Lens: a true story.
Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite
cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather
during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope
snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. “Great”, she
thought.
“Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and
hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry.”
She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the
ledge. But it just wasn’t there.
She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She
prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.
When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her
clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm
now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not
clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible
verse “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
She thought, “Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know
every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is.
Please help me.”
Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the
cliff they met another party of
climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them
shouted out, “Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?”
Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the
climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of
the rock, carrying it!
The story doesn’t end there. Brenda’s father is a cartoonist.
When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the
contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with
the caption, “Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing. I
can’t eat it, and it’s awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to
do, I’ll carry it for You.”
I think it would do all of us some good to say, “God, I don’t
know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and
It’s awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will.”
Girl I needed this so much today! SOOOOOO MUCH!
Comment by Diva (in Demand) — October 14, 2006 @ 2:39 am
If he brought you to it he will pull you through it.
I suffered from a very draining addiction for 10 years…at times I wanted to end it all. Now that I am walking in freedom..God is speaking to me about forming weekly groups for those still in bondage. 10 years? I guess that was God’s PH.D program for me.
Comment by Angry in L.A-Shannon — October 16, 2006 @ 3:29 am
Right! Right! And folks wonder why I wake up smiling so hard every morning! LOL!
Holla!
Comment by mrs-tj — October 16, 2006 @ 4:11 pm
I would love to see that cartoon.
Great message!
Comment by Mwabi — October 16, 2006 @ 6:37 pm
That was so right on time!
You haev me crying at my darn desk!
Man I needed that!
Comment by Icey — October 18, 2006 @ 6:18 pm
Oh and if you have a picture of the cartoon could you share it?
Comment by Icey — October 18, 2006 @ 6:18 pm
This is a fun story that would be fun to believe, but it didn’t get past my scrutinizer!
Here are the problems that I had with the story…
“ … taking a breather during this, her first rock climb” does not work with “on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff,” That doesn’t sound like a likely location for a “first rock climb”. I am sure Brenda must have had practice on previous rock climbs to gain the skills and courage to attack this “tremendous granite cliff.”
The photo also looks very unlikely. It looks like the ant photo that I found is simply a doctored image. It looks like either that is an extremely HUGE ant or Brenda has extremely tiny contacts. I would expect a contact to be about 3 times the body length of most ants. Additionally, if the ant chose to simply lay the contact on its back, instead of gripping on to it with their mouth or arms or whatever they do, the process of walking is going to shift the weight of the contact around and it will fall off the ant’s back. Certainly the weight of a contact should not be a problem for one of God’s most amazing creatures, so if the ant had a grasp somehow, this could be possible. I don’t see any kind of grasp though, so, I remain un-convinced by the photo.
Additionally, I would think that through the course of time, ants should have acquired instincts by now to avoid lenses wherever possible. Just the same as every 10 year old boy has acquired the instincts to know that there are cool things that you can do to ants with magnifying glasses. If you don’t know what I am talking about, ask any 10 year old boy who has played with a magnifying glass.
As much as I would like to believe the inspirational story, I am afraid that I do not believe this to be a “True Story.”
You can accuse me of blasphemy, but my observations should in no way be interpreted as a scrutiny of Philippians 4:13. Just the story.
who thought it was a true story? I think you have too much time on your hands. I hope you are playing so I’m laughing with you and not at you.
Comment by Doubting Thomas — September 1, 2008 @ 1:31 pm