A Formidable Foe

oh no. This is too awful. I saw another Hammerhead Worm, this time in my own neighborhood just 3 streets over! I just could not bring myself to step on it...I mean how gross would that be with this foot long slimy creepy worm?Then when I got home, I read more about it, and discovered that if you step on it, IT WILL JUST GROW BACK FROM THE PIECES. Good Lord! It is worse than Obamacare! (Well, ok, maybe that is going a bit far, but you get the idea.) And it WILL wipe out whole populations of the beneficial garden friend, the earthworm.

So I did a search on natural predators of the Hammerhead Worm. I was ready to stock the neighborhood with that predator! I could not find a single one! It seems clear that the Hammerhead Worm will be taking over the world. And here I thought it was more likely the demise of the human race would be at the hands of a nuclear holocaust. I was wrong. It will be a Hammerhead holocaust.

I found a data base of where these worms are found. There were NO reported cases in Charlotte! I had a moral obligation to report the presence of these beastly...beasts. So I wrote to the webmaster and informed him that these terrible creatures were in Charlotte. Did he know that? He did not and had me enter my worm and photo in the official data base. I am the notorious first reporter of the Hammerhead Worm in Charlotte! Lucky me!

No creature will stand up to this horrible worm, and it destroys all the good worms that make our flowers grow and our world worth living in. If this is not a symbol of what happens when we remain silent in the face of evil I don't know what is. Yet...what to do? How to vanquish such a foe? Not only does it dissolve earthworms on contact with its mouth, which is halfway down its body, but GET THIS: it's mouth is the same as its anus! (Now, that is exactly what I have been saying about some of our leaders these days in my less kind moments when despair over the direction of our country gets the best of me.)

What to do!? What to do!?

There is one small ray of hope. When the food supply is low, these worms become cannibalistic...they feed on their own kind! This has the happy effect of keeping their population in check. Sometimes, the way to fight evil is to just get out of the way and let it implode on itself. It is critical to know what strategy to adopt- stand up and fight, or just get out of the way....?

I am reminded of the scene in the Bible when the disciples try to cast a demon from a little boy unsuccessfully. They had cast demons out in the past. Why did they fail with the little boy? Jesus tells them, "This kind can only be removed by prayer." Furthermore, Jesus reminds them all things are possible to those who believe. Then Jesus, without a lick of trouble, casts out the demon.

So was their faith weaker than in cases when they had been able to cast out demons? Probably not. It is more likely, judging from Jesus' response, that some demons are stronger, more intractable, and even more faith than usual is required. And thus, again the critical importance of prayer is emphasized. Prayer is mentioned here, in my opinion, because prayer has a dramatic effect on faith.

The next time I see a Hammerhead Worm, I hope to see TWO. Then, I will put them side by side and let them devour each other. But be assured, I WILL also be praying.

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A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit in him and cannot talk. Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grits his teeth, and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.” Jesus said to them, “How unbelieving you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me!” “Many times the evil spirit has tried to kill him by throwing him in the fire and into water. Have pity on us and help us, if you possibly can!” “Yes,” said Jesus, “if you yourself can! Everything is possible for the person who has faith.” The father at once cried out, “I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!” Jesus noticed that the crowd was closing in on them, so he gave a command to the evil spirit. “Deaf and dumb spirit,” he said, “I order you to come out of the boy and never go into him again!” The spirit screamed, threw the boy into a bad fit, and came out. The boy looked like a corpse, and everyone said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him rise, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn't we drive the spirit out?” “Only prayer can drive this kind out,” answered Jesus; “nothing else can.” (Mark 9:17-19, 22-29 GNTD)


-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org
http://www.amazon.com/Vicky-Kaseorg/e/B006XJ2DWU