All creatures great and small

“Then the Lord said, ‘And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’” (Jonah 4:10–11)

Do you find it strange that God would care so much about animals?

I try to make it a daily practice to take some pictures with my DSLR camera. A macro lens allows me to photograph small insects and spiders that largely go unnoticed.

Right now, in the fall, there are large populations of wasps, yellow jackets, boxelder bugs, hover flies and bold jumping spiders all around the parsonage gardens.

The photographs I take are compiled on my Google+ account on the internet. As of this date, they have been viewed over 2 million times worldwide. In addition, I use them in classrooms to educate children about the world of insects and spiders.

What I’ve discovered in this process is that many people know very little about their smaller neighbors that scurry about on six or eight legs. Not all of them are pests and many are quite beneficial. Taking the time to become more educated in knowing the difference between friend or foe is important.

Learning about the smaller scale jungle in your backyard helps one to understand how things work in nature overall. There are checks and balances in all of this that may surprise.

For example, red and black boxelder bugs were prolific earlier in the year. They serve a purpose in God’s design. They are great in numbers because they dine on the hundreds of seed pods that fall off of certain trees. In turn, a growing number of wasps and bold jumping spiders help to control their populations. A harsh winter will decrease their numbers further. So, things are kept in balance.

If one sprays to kill the boxelder bugs, this could literally change the landscape with a great many more seeds from trees sprouting and taking root. Left unchecked, this would lead to crowded conditions for young trees resulting in spindly growth. If these insects were allowed to remain, fewer seeds would sprout and these plants would grow healthier and larger with less competition.

God cares for all of creation, even what may seem to us as animals that are small and insignificant.

Walter is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church and has served as parish pastor for more than 25 years.