Blue, The Little Pink Liar

Psalm 107:1-3,7 -- "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this - those he redeemed from the land of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle."

image: Alcon Blue butterfly/newscientist.com

In the vastness of our blue planet there are some wonderful little surprises wrapped up in tiny little packages. In a green field on the other side of a busy highway with bustling motorists fighting through rush-hour traffic, a dainty little blue beauty lays her eggs on a tall flower stalk. The Alcon Blue butterfly has picked this spot specifically for its proximity to the ant colony she knows to reside deep in the dirt below. When she lifts off again, she'll not stick around to raise her young as they break their way through their egg casings. Instead, she'll leave that to the ants.

Perfectly timed, the caterpillars drop from the flowers stems to the ground where they begin to hum and release a special scent - or hydrocarbon. The scouter ants that are busy rushing around in search of food come upon these squirming little pink things. It sounds like ant larvae, it smells like ant larvae, it looks a little bit like ant larvae - it MUST be from the colony nest. The confused ant is completely fooled into thinking that one of their own pupae has somehow managed to magically leave the nest and is now stranded helplessly on the surface.

So, off they go - gently dragging the caterpillar down into the burrow where it will then be fed, groomed, and protected - just as if it were an ant.

image: natgeocreative.com

The Alcon Blue will live out the remainder of its "childhood" in the burrow as one of the ant family. It is perfectly adopted - having been collected from beyond the colony borders and brought to a safe place where it could settle and grow.

Pretty cool huh? The adopted ant family member is completely accepted. Safe within the ant commune, it's been rescued from the elements, from predation, and from starvation.

In the book of Psalms we are reminded that those of us who have been redeemed by the Lord should be thankful. We should celebrate that we were collected from far beyond the boundaries of  the Holy Land and God's chosen people - and have been deeply integrated into God's family - where we will be forever loved, forever forgiven, and forever fully accepted as children of God.

image: commons.wikimedia.org

You and I have been granted a forever home - a place within which we can settle and grow for the Lord.

It matters not that we are all from different corners of the globe with different nationalities and cultural heritage. In the family of God we are all the same.

THAT really is something to celebrate!!