One Tribe

When I was about 5 years old, my grandma was visiting and watching me as I played in the driveway. She observed me for a while then declared, "Oh Dorie, look how sweet she is...Laurie is helping the little ants get into their anthills!" At that moment, I stood up and stomped on the anthill, twisting and grinding the dirt into the cement crack. Grandma went from touched to horrified, instantly. Mom thought it was hysterical.

I tell this story because it demonstrates how things are not always as they seem. We, as human beings are often quick to judge, and all too often, we're wrong.

I've always been a bit fascinated with ants. Maybe it was because, at 4 years old, I was officially an "aunt". Perhaps because, being the youngest of 9 children, I could relate to being part of a "colony". When we would have our summer family reunions at Gun Lake, my relatives would take up half of the park. In we would swarm, feasting, swimming, laughing, storytelling, and finally, dispersing. Still to this day, when I see a swarm of ants on a sidewalk, my mind says, "Hey, look, it's a family reunion!"

I remember watching those ants whose homes formed impressive granular towers along the cracks of the driveway. They were hard workers! But they just seemed too busy working to get to know their neighbors. I, being the goodwill ambassador of my domain, took it upon myself to perform experiments. I would take in a stray ant, walk it across the drive, and drop it into a foreign hill. The thing is, they just didn't mix well. Try as I may, the other ants would inevitably kick the poor little guy out. Eventually, I had to step it up. I decided to create my own little natural disaster. (Not to worry, no ants were harmed in this research.) I would give the foreign ant sufficient clearance, then BAM! Buried. I just knew that these hard working ants would rally together and rebuild, stronger, taller. Ants of the drive, untied as one tribe!

It occurred to me, as I was mulling over this memory, that we people are a lot like the ants. We're busy, hard working, living life and trying to keep up. How well do we know our neighbors? Next door, down the block, down the road, downtown. Certainly, when a crisis hits, we reach out to help, but are we warm, friendly, and welcoming to "outsiders" on a daily basis?
I felt like that ant that had been plucked from my home this summer when I was on a mission trip. I was dropped into an unfamiliar, uncomfortable environment. I learned a lot on that trip. We are all one people, one human race. We all have the basic human need to love and be loved. And, as Mother Teresa once said, "When you're judging someone, you have no room to love them."

So, to the untrained eye, I may have appeared to be a cruel child at play, but if you took the time to know me, or just ask me, you could come to a completely different conclusion. (And, right now, I'm sure some of you may conclude that I'm a bit crazy.)

Go on now, love your neighbor. Turn off that judge-o-meter and offer up some love.