On Ant Trails

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12-14)

Once upon a time, there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow by the river. It was during the hot summer season when the ant was toiling hard by collecting wheat grains from the farmer’s field.

The ant would work hard all day long from dawn to dusk collecting the heavy grain well balanced on her back. She would then put the wheat grain in her larder carefully and rush back to the field to collect another grain. She would scurry back and forth between the field and her larder, often repeating this task the whole day.

On the other hand, there was a grasshopper in the grassy meadow who would spend all his time in singing and dancing. He would often scorn at the ant for toiling so hard the entire day in collecting the grains. He would frequently call the ant to join him in singing, dancing and making merry at the present time.

However, the ant would ignore him and continue with her work. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder and he would often ridicule the ant stating that they have enough food to sustain themselves in summer.

Hearing this, the ant said that she was saving some food for the cold season and recommended the grasshopper to follow the same. The grasshopper didn’t pay heed to her words and continued singing and dancing merrily.

Soon summer faded to autumn and autumn to winter. It became freezing cold outside due to snowfall and the sun was barely visible and the nights were long and dark. Out of cold, the grasshopper lost his interest in singing and making merry. He was cold and hungry and had no place to take shelter from the snow outside. He wondered how to save himself from this tough situation.

Suddenly he remembered about the ant and visited her for some food and shelter. Off he went to her place and knocked at her door for help. When she opened the door, the grasshopper offered to sing for her in return for some food and shelter.

To this, the ant replied that she had toiled hard in summer to save enough food for winter and the grasshopper had mocked her then. She gently asked him to sing somewhere else and earn his food and shelter. It is then, the grasshopper realized that he should have saved up enough for the winter instead of wasting his time being lazy during summer in singing and dancing around. (end)

The grasshopper was not invited to the banquet – food to sustain him through the winter, the hard times.  I suspect the ant would have invited the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  They were not singing and dancing around.  They were struggling.  

Many of us are like the grasshopper – all play and no work.  We tend to be self-consumed and selfish.  We ants must follow the trails that lead to Jesus to help him provide sustenance for those in need.

Deacon David Pierce