Summer Stories

What is the deal with Lightning bugs?

What is the deal with Lightning bugs?

I mean, here is this rather ordinary looking flying insect,
but wait... it has a glow-in-the-dark rear end.

What was God thinking?

I'm sure science has all kinds of explanations about how this
fluorescent fanny is useful for mating and other stuff, but why
did God choose to make the lightning bug glow?

There may be some crucial purpose for the Lighting bug that
I don't know about, but I have a feeling it may be quite simple.
I wonder if, when God was creating all the animals and every-
thing around us, He came up with the idea of the Lightning bug
and said, "The kids are gonna love this."

We know that God loves us enough to create all the things we
need to survive, but does God loves us so much He created
some things just to make us smile?

Just seeing Lightning bugs takes me back to those warm summer
nights of my youth. I'd be running around the back yard with my
empty Mason jar, racing toward the flashing lights all around me.
I can still feel the joy and hear the laughter echoing through my
memories. Lighting bugs were as much a part of summer as fire-
works, fresh tomatoes, and big ice-cold slabs of juicy watermelon.
(I also have a theory of why God created watermelon seeds the
perfect size to spit, but that is another story.)

God created so much diversity in this world, much more than is
needed for mere survival. He made all of this for us, and He
wants us to enjoy it. We can get so busy surrounding ourselves
with man-made goods that we don't notice the living tapestry God
has laid out all around us.

I guess Lightning bugs do have a purpose after all. They are a
reminder of a creative God who loves us so much, He'd even
paint the rear end of a bug ...

just to see us smile.

© 2002 Phil Morgan mailto:filmorgan@aol.com By way of Cup O'Cheer.
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