Social Spiders

      Spiders are creatures that we don’t typically get too close to. They are characterized by eight legs, fangs for injecting venom, and up to four pair of eyes! Spiders use hydraulic pressure to control their legs, and this is why the legs of a dead spider curl up. They have two or more pairs of spinnerets for spinning silk for various uses. Most spiders are severely lacking in the social skills area. They typically live alone, are very aggressive, and would just as soon eat another spider as look at it.

     Out of the over 40,000 species of spiders, there are a handful that defy the typical “non-social” stereotype. These “social spiders” live together in communities of up to 50,000 spiders. They work together to build communal webs that can be very large in size. These social spiders are known to catch and consume all sizes of insects and even small birds.

    I was able to see a group of social spiders in action, during a trip to the Amazon. We were motoring slowly down the Blanco River in the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve in Peru. Up ahead I saw something that looked like a cloud, hanging over the trees at the edge of the river. As we got closer, I could see that it was an enormous spider web! The web was as large as the side of a two story house! I was told that this was a spider web built by social spiders. We did not get close enough to see the size of the spiders, and nobody was asking to get any closer!


     Just as God designed the social spiders to depend on each other for survival, he designed people to also depend on each other. In I Corinthians 12 Paul tells us that we are part of the “body of Christ” and explains how it takes all the parts of the body functioning together to make us whole. We are not designed to live alone; we are created to work together in the body of Christ. A social spider taken out of its community web would not last long. Likewise, a person, taken out of their Christian community environment, may have difficulties. We need the encouragement and support of the Christian community. If you are struggling in your Christian walk, check and make sure that you are still in an active Christian community! Keep yourself surrounded by strong Christian friends and you will thrive just as the social spiders I saw in the Amazon!

Working Together in the Forest

   There is unbelievable array of more than 350,000 different types of living plants in our world today. They include trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, and come in shapes and sizes that are hard to imagine. A dozen flowers from the wolffia plant would just fit on the head of a pin! This small wolffia plant is 7 trillion time lighter than the massive sequoia tree!

The tallest known redwood tree reaches the height of a 37 story building at 379 feet! Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth having been clocked at 48” (four foot) of growth in a 24 hour period! In areas of poor soil there are plants that derive most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming insects.

The strangler fig tree starts to grow in the crevices of other trees, grow their roots downward, and then strangle their host tree as they grow up toward the sunlight! I never cease to be amazed when I consider God’s amazing creation!

  I was walking in the woods today and saw a strange tree that I could not identify. The leaves did not seem to match the tree structure. As I got closer I realized that it was an old dead cedar tree that was covered with a grape vine and its large leaves. Later I started thinking about how the different plants in the forest work together to protect and support one another. The grape vine I saw was not strong enough to support its own weigh and depended on the large tree to provide support.

   In my walk today I also passed by an area where several tall trees had fallen, leaving a big opening in the middle of a heavily wooded area. In these heavily wooded areas the trees grow very tall trying to reach the sunlight. Some of these tall trees are very week and only stand because they are supported by the closeness of the other tall trees. When one of the tall trees dies and falls, it tends to cause several of the surround trees to fall also.

   Just as God designed the plants of the forest to work together and support each other so has he crafted the “body of Christ” to support all of its members. Just as there is a great diversity in the plant life, so are there also all types of people that make up the body of Christ. The Bible talks about the “body of Christ” in I Corinthians 12: (New Living Translation)

       12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So
       it is with the body of Christ….22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest
      and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as
      less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect
      those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require
      this special care… 27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part
      of it.

   We need to realize that there are all types of people in the “body of Christ” and learn to accept those in the body who have different ministries than our own. We need to identify where we fit in the “body of Christ” and provide support for the rest of the body. When we all work together as one body there is great harmony in the forest of our lives!