Thursday, February 25, 2010

Godspeed, Katydid

This afternoon we saw a katydid outside our apartment, and decided to take a closer look at it. Its delicate movements reminded me what a miracle the natural world is.

Unfortunately, this particular miracle made the mistake of hopping onto Joy's pant leg. It startled her, and when she jumped the katydid fell to the ground where Joy accidentally stepped squarely down on it.

I felt terrible that our clumsy curiosity had made this creature suffer and ended its life, but I took some comfort in the knowledge that there is life after this one. I'm grateful to know that we only ended the katydid's mortal life, not its existence, and that it is probably happier where it is now. That's not to say we should go wantonly destroying things to send them to a better place, but it is good to know that as we make our imperfect way through life, our little mistakes don't cause too much sorrow in the long run.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)

1 comment:

Cathy said...

I feel much worse for the unseen katydid than for the mosquitos I have purposely sent out of this world...