There is a sense in which today’s post is a continuation of my previous one (ON THIS DAY? 2/3/2020). That post had to with the indignity of spending one’s life without ever truly having accomplished anything worthwhile, commendable, or praiseworthy.
I had barely penned these thoughts when I came across the following article in the news: “Rare Cave Salamander Remained in Same Spot for 7 Years”.
According to an article published in the January 28, 2020 edition of the prestigious Journal of Zoology, researchers have been studying a rare type of cave-dwelling European salamander known as the “olm” that can up to one hundred years.
It has been determined that one particular specimen studied did not budge for 2,569 days! According to lead scientist, Gergely Balázs, who along with his colleagues at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary came across the amphibian inside a cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “They are hanging around, doing almost nothing.” Suffice it to say that this may be the understatement of the year!
In their inactivity, olms can literally go years without eating. They also do not appear to enjoy socializing. In fact, according to the study, the reclusive little olms are so sedentary that they only tend to move whenever they need to find a mate. And even this only happens roughly once every 12 years or so throughout their century long life span.
Now, for my part, I grant that such behavior might somehow be advantageous in the cold, dark, lonely, undergrown world which this hapless little creature inhabits. But surely this is not true for you and me as human beings, who are designed to live above ground in a world of light and warmth and constant interaction.
The question I would thus pose is this. Why, then, do so many people choose to live a life more patterned upon that of this lonely salamander than that of men and women?
What good is even a long life if it is spent in the cold dark world of seclusion from others? We are not meant to be reclusive creatures of the dark, hiding out in utter isolation and inactivity.
Rather, we are meant to be people of the light. We are meant to live our lives in the accompanying warmth of fellowship that comes with having a relationship with a Heavenly Father, and with others who, like us, are also His children.
In the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 11, verses 1-43), we find the story of Lazarus. He grew sick and then died, whereupon his sisters sent for Jesus. When our Lord arrived, He comforted these ladies and then stood before the cold, dark chamber where Lazarus lay alone in a world of death.
After praying, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The Bible then affirms that the dead man did just that – he came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
The words Jesus next uttered are profound: “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” Some Bible translations say: “Loose him, and let him go!”
My challenge to anyone trapped in a cold dark isolated domain today is to come forth in the name of Jesus Christ! Come forth from a world that is only fir for the dead! Come forth and join the living!
Come out and live your life as it was intended for you to live it by your Creator. Come forth and live life as it can be lived in the power of Jesus Christ! Come forth and experience what Jesus promised us in that same gospel of John (chapter 10, verse 10) when He said: “I have come that people may have life, and have it to the full!”
So, get up, get moving, and get involved in life. As you do, get all you can out of life! And along the way, get all the blessings God intends you to have in life! You might just find out how preferable it is to live “The Life Above”!
SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/science/rare-cave-salamander-remained-in-same-spot-for-7-years as reported by Christopher Carbone, February 05, 2020.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblehub.com/niv/john/11.htm and
https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm.
I had barely penned these thoughts when I came across the following article in the news: “Rare Cave Salamander Remained in Same Spot for 7 Years”.
According to an article published in the January 28, 2020 edition of the prestigious Journal of Zoology, researchers have been studying a rare type of cave-dwelling European salamander known as the “olm” that can up to one hundred years.
It has been determined that one particular specimen studied did not budge for 2,569 days! According to lead scientist, Gergely Balázs, who along with his colleagues at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary came across the amphibian inside a cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “They are hanging around, doing almost nothing.” Suffice it to say that this may be the understatement of the year!
In their inactivity, olms can literally go years without eating. They also do not appear to enjoy socializing. In fact, according to the study, the reclusive little olms are so sedentary that they only tend to move whenever they need to find a mate. And even this only happens roughly once every 12 years or so throughout their century long life span.
Now, for my part, I grant that such behavior might somehow be advantageous in the cold, dark, lonely, undergrown world which this hapless little creature inhabits. But surely this is not true for you and me as human beings, who are designed to live above ground in a world of light and warmth and constant interaction.
The question I would thus pose is this. Why, then, do so many people choose to live a life more patterned upon that of this lonely salamander than that of men and women?
What good is even a long life if it is spent in the cold dark world of seclusion from others? We are not meant to be reclusive creatures of the dark, hiding out in utter isolation and inactivity.
Rather, we are meant to be people of the light. We are meant to live our lives in the accompanying warmth of fellowship that comes with having a relationship with a Heavenly Father, and with others who, like us, are also His children.
In the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 11, verses 1-43), we find the story of Lazarus. He grew sick and then died, whereupon his sisters sent for Jesus. When our Lord arrived, He comforted these ladies and then stood before the cold, dark chamber where Lazarus lay alone in a world of death.
After praying, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The Bible then affirms that the dead man did just that – he came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
The words Jesus next uttered are profound: “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” Some Bible translations say: “Loose him, and let him go!”
My challenge to anyone trapped in a cold dark isolated domain today is to come forth in the name of Jesus Christ! Come forth from a world that is only fir for the dead! Come forth and join the living!
Come out and live your life as it was intended for you to live it by your Creator. Come forth and live life as it can be lived in the power of Jesus Christ! Come forth and experience what Jesus promised us in that same gospel of John (chapter 10, verse 10) when He said: “I have come that people may have life, and have it to the full!”
So, get up, get moving, and get involved in life. As you do, get all you can out of life! And along the way, get all the blessings God intends you to have in life! You might just find out how preferable it is to live “The Life Above”!
SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/science/rare-cave-salamander-remained-in-same-spot-for-7-years as reported by Christopher Carbone, February 05, 2020.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblehub.com/niv/john/11.htm and
https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm.