I met a fly…

and I named him Dasher...

I drove over 700 miles recently. There is no radio in my truck and if I sing to myself it isn’t at all entertaining. Also, I can’t get to be entertained by talk radio. So what do I do? Usually just daydream, but this trip I met a fly. As I was coming home on the freeway, I noticed a fly flying around the cab, landing on the steering wheel, my leg and even a couple of times, my nose, which was a bit disconcerting. I opened the window so he could get sucked out, but he went right to the center of the cab. I tried unsuccessfully to swat him. Then it occurred to me. What am I doing? Why would I want to kill this fly? Because he is fly? Because I am an “exterminator” (I hate that word)? He is just flying around waiting to get home so he can get out of the truck and do fly stuff. He isn’t deliberately annoying me. If a dog barks, do I kill it? Of course not! If a snake wanders in my yard, do I kill it? No way! Why kill the fly?

Think about it. God created all of us, every species, with one thing in mind – Love. He did not create us so we can fight each other, argue with each other, barbecue each other, or swat flies! His purpose was for us to Love and Respect each other and that includes every species. Would Jesus ever hunt or attend a bullfight or stomp on a bug or swat a fly? I don’t think so.

Many species of animals feed on other species and that is fine. Very few animals die of old age. However, have you ever seen a lion hang an antelope’s head in his den to show how brave he is? Have you ever seen a roadrunner kill a rattlesnake and then skin it and make it into a headband for his stupid cowboy hat? No. They kill to eat or to defend themselves or their families. They don’t kill for pleasure. That is a human trait because we are able to “reason.” Would a monkey or a lion or a chicken or any other species of animal swat a fly simply because it is a fly? I don’t think so. We don’t like flies because they are bugs and bugs are inherently evil. If you don’t believe that, look at the very huge pesticide industry that spends billions of dollars polluting our planet and making people sick so we can kill a few bugs. I have slept in beds knowing bed bugs were present. They happily dined on my body while I slept. I got up and went about my business the next day while the bugs slept in, fat and happy. No harm was done, yet we have created a massive industry to “control” these so-called pests (who don’t carry any diseases).

There is one thing that every species of animal on the planet, including man, has in common. We are all here to simply make a living. We are the only species that likes to take advantage of other species and torture them, hunt them, fish for them, spray pesticides on them and God only knows what else. All the other species want to live in peace and be allowed to live their lives as God intended. We could learn from them. I learned a lot from little Dasher, the fly (named him Dasher because he likes to hang out on the dashboard). God was obviously in the truck with me tonight because not only did I learn some good moral teachings from an insect, I was driving over 150 miles at night with no taillights (which I didn’t know weren’t working). I could have had a serious accident or a serious citation, but God was with me all the way. When I got home and opened the door, the little fly woke up and joined his buddies outside (or did whatever flies do at night). I learned more from the fly than I ever would have from some radio talk show host.