Freaking Ants (part two)!

My previous blog about ants reminded me of a blog I wrote in October of last year. Let me see if I can scrounge it up for you for it is quite funny (uncomfortable though it was for me):

Tickling my brain

"This morning I woke up with my brain tickling. Not only was it like the itch you can't scratch, it was like the itch you can't scratch that hurts really badly if you even think about scratching it. I think it was about 1:30 am when I noticed it. I was slowly brought back to consciousness in a most unpleasant manner. The sensation got worse and worse until about 20 minutes later I desperately jumped out of bed to plunge my ear with a cue tip. Amazingly, a little black ant was all the way back in my ear canal. It had been marching on my ear drum as if it were a parade deck!

With my sleep interrupted as it was, I was really tired at work all day. When I got back to the house, I decided to take a nap. No more than 20 minutes into my nap my nose started to itch as if the feather dusters of the world had united and shoved themselves into my nostrils. I'm not joking when I say that for the second time in one day an ant had found its way into my face. It felt like the itch you get in your nose before you sneeze (though this one burned)...and it didn't go away! I was finally able to get the ant out of my nose but now I'm terrified of going to sleep tonight..."

Other than that, a couple of other interesting things about ants popped up onto my radar. A writer on the blog site Open Salon (Tim Cordle to be precise) made an interesting point behind the meaning of sacrifice. On sacrifice for personal gain (a homicide bomber gaining their harem in heaven) he says, "Whatever a terrorist believes about his or her just cause, the altruism of their act is considerably diminished by virtue of the fact that by committing such atrocities they hope to guarantee a special reward in the hereafter. That is hardly a selfless act."

On sacrifice for the gain of others he provides the example of a specific type of ant mentioned by the December 2008 Smithsonian:

The Collective Good

"Scientists in Brazil have observed an unusual act of selflessness. When Forelius ants retire for the night, one or more workers remain outside the colony, kicking sand to seal the entrance. If that protects those within from predators or rain, it also dooms the outside ants to die overnight of exposure. It's the first known case of "pre-emptive self-sacrifice" among insects."

To make his point about sacrifice, Cordle compares the two forms of sacrifice and their worth: "No, a true selfless act is that of the ant that barricades itself outside the nest and expects nothing for its sacrifice but death. For at least as far as we know, there is no Paradise in the metaphysics of ants."

To read Cordle's blog in its entirety is to read a post disclaiming religion because it does not provide for a form of sacrifice that is selfless. This is where he drops the ball, not having spiritual eyes to see with. My challenge to him would be to tell me how the sacrifice of Christ was in any way selfish. The scriptural proof I give to show how others-centered Christ's sacrifice was I present Hebrews 12:2-3:

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The joy of Christ was to be with His Father in heaven, in perfect fellowship with His children whom He lived, died and rose again for, forever. AMEN!