The Ant and the Lord
By Rev. Richard Dancey

Once there was an ant, a very ordinary small ant. Like many ordinary small ants, he was a good and hard working aunt. Whatever he was to do- he never complained to God or anyone else. He never worried about whether he could do what he was to do. His soul simply prayed, “Lord, lend me just a little bit of your power. Just enough to do what I am to do.”

Then he did it. If he had to drag a leaf, a twig, or a crumb of bread – 10 times bigger and heavier than himself – drag it a long distance back to his hill-home – that was perfectly alright by him. He liked big challenges; he loved to be really tested.

Now the God who loves all creatures, great and small, has a particular love for all creatures, a love that perfectly fits who it is that he loves. And God had a particular love for this ant. So knowing this ant, the Lord decided to send to him a challenge that was, in fact, impossible; A mighty work that the ant couldn’t possibly do. The Lord wanted to see what the Ant would do, facing an impossible task.

This is how it happened.

One day the Ant left his hill-home in the front yard of the house. It was a beautiful September day, a great day to work hard. The ant decided to venture beyond his own grassy land. He would explore a land he had never dared to explore before. He reached the border of his grassy homeland and went on into a new, strange land. He went on to the hard bearing concrete by the street. He went onto the curb, and there far below him lay the vast rock hard desert of the street. He climbed down the steep sheer face of the curb-mountain cliff, Making his way out onto the Flat Rock hard desert. Nothing grew there, not a blade of grass. He went on, and the rock desert seemed to go on and on forever. But the ant kept going, exploring, all the way out into the middle of the great barren desert.

Then it happened. The sun left. The clouds gathered. The storm came. The heavens opened and it began to rain hard. For human beings, raindrops are small. They go pitter patter. But to ants, they are large; huge water bombs coming down- crashing, splatting, from the sky.

The ant did not panic. He did not complain or curse. He wasn’t filled with fear. Several water bombs crashed, splattered down on him, knocking him, tumbling and wrenching him. He shook himself and thought, “Now, I am really clean.” He found a fallen, already reddened leaf on the street. He crawled underneath, looking up, never having seen such a beautiful red archway over him before. He felt safe and thanked the Lord, “How mighty are you, Lord, Lord of all storms. Lord of all leaves. Lord of red beauty.”

The storm passed over. Sunlight broke through the clouds and filled his red heaven with God’s glory. He left his red leaf and began making his way back home, but when he came close to the curb-mountain, We found before him a raging river. Where there had been dry hard concrete, now there was raging water.

There was no way to get back home. How could he ever cross that raging river? It was impossible. But he did not give up. He went to the very edge of the raging water then went along it, following it downstream. Looking for a way to cross. No way was to be found. He followed it upstream. No way was to be found. Still he did not panic. He did not give up.

He found a twig, much larger than himself and drug it to the edge of the river. He pushed into the current, but  before he could even get on the twig, it was quickly carried away.

He found a leaf, much, much bigger than himself, and drug it to the edge of the rushing water. He pushed it into the river. This time he waited for a moment before getting on to the leaf. He was wise to wait. No sooner had he put it in the current, than the river swept it away. “What a mighty thing this river is,”  was all he thought.

Then he found a pebble-stone, larger than himself and carried it to the edge of the rushing river. He would build a bridge, one stone at a time, across the river. He pushed it into the river.  It disappeared and was carried away. The river was too deep and too strong.

“Will I ever get home?” The thought never crossed his mind. “Why was this happening to poor little me?”  The thought never crossed his mind. He stood at the edge of the raging river, and he simply prayed, “Lord, lend me a little bit of your wisdom, send me a little more than a little bit of your power, to cross the mighty river, to make my journey home.” Then he prayed, “And, Lord, if you, in your wisdom, choose not to send me what I need, may your name be praised forever and ever. Amen.” The Lord looked down on the scene below. He smiled and thought, “What a soul! If only there were ten such souls on earth, all would be well.” With that, the Lord made his miracle. There came a little boy, wearing his rubber boots, walking down the street, walking in the water rushing by at the curb. Playing, splashing, having a grand time. The ant heard him, and felt the mighty thundering splashes as the boots came down. He stood in wonder. What a great, great being! The ant was sure he was in the presence of at least an archangel…

Suddenly, the little boy stopped splashing, right near the spot where the ant was standing in awe. The mother was shouting at him, calling him, from the front door. “Tommy, come in now – time for supper.” The boy called back, “Mom, what are we having?”  Mom replied, “Your favorite – macaroni and cheese.”

Not hesitating, not waiting to see what would happen next, the ant climbed up onto the side of the rubber boot right beside him. In an instant he was lifted up and out and over the river, over the curb, and in the blink of an eye, he was back in his grassy homeland.

He jumped off the boot as it came down and began running through the yard! And all that his ant-soul could do was sing, “Lord of all archangels and ants, Lord of all rivers and leaves, lord of all twigs, Lord of all deserts and waters, lord of all macaroni and cheese. May your name be praised forever and ever and ever!  Amen