Of Wasps and Other Things

Last updated on: September 4, 2012 at 9:43 am by Phyllis Tickle

Of Wasps and Other Things 2012-09-04T09:43:54-05:00 Phyllis Tickle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Wade Tickle is almost eleven years old, and he is terrified of wasps. When he was younger, he was only afraid of them. Now he is paralyzed by the mere possibility of them. Normally, this would not be a problem….a quirk maybe, a source of some parental concern and, unfortunately, of some unkind teasing, but little more than that. The difficulty lies in the fact that our times [or his, perhaps] are not exactly normal right now.

Wade’s dad, who is our son, Wade, Sr., is in the process of buying and restoring a “new” old house in town. As a result, they have been living with us for the past six weeks and will continue to do so, in all probability, for another six weeks or so. That’s all well and good, despite the fact that Sr. keeps referring to his family’s current situation as being one of “camping out with” instead of “living with” us on the farm. And it is, of course, in the farm part of the thing that the real trouble lies.

Wasps are a part of rural living. Actually, they’re a rather necessary part of our natural balance here. They are busy humming around all summer long, and one normally thinks little, if anything, about them. It is in late August and all of September that one thinks about the wasps, because they are everywhere…aggressively everywhere. Presumably, they are preparing for the coming winter. In actuality, they simply appear to be taking over the place.

So it is that Wade is afraid in a way and to a degree that neither he nor any one of the rest of us has ever had to deal with before. He can not go the three hundred yards down the drive to the county road to fetch in the mail from the box for me. He has to run from the back door to the family car, when they want to go somewhere. He can’t use the backyard swing to dream in anymore, and he can’t hide in the barn when he wants to retreat. He can’t even ride the tractor with his dad, a joy that once upon a time was the capping one of all the farm’s pleasures…to ride across the fields in Dad’s lap and “help” steer that mighty, burping, rocking, lumbering machine! That was heaven, but no more….a loss made sadder by the fact that he’s almost old enough now to actually begin to learn to drive the thing.

And so, with August now gone, and September upon us, with the wasps making mayhem all over the place, and with all the long, sun-drenched days of September still ahead of us, I look at my grandson, trapped in my house, a captive of his own fear, and I am sad beyond speaking. My heart lives in weariness and agony for him. All the goodness of creation sings around him and all the joy of it waits just beyond the porch door, and he can not go.

Thus it was that this morning, as I was lying in bed, still half-asleep and half-awake, I suddenly realized what I had to do. What I had to do was take Wade outside with me, whether he wished to go or not, and then make him stand there on the porch while I annoyed a wasp into stinging me…

I came instantly awake as that unfortunate thought took shape in my head. It would work, of course. Wade could see me be stung and see me survive. But the other thing that brought me wide awake is the fact that wasp stings hurt like sin. I swell up as if I’ve been pummeled with a baseball bat, and I ache for at least a day thereafter, and sometimes for two. But at that moment, it was the only way I could see to free Wade…

It was also at that moment…or no more than an instant after it…that for the first time in my almost eighty years, I understood Calvary in a way I could rest in.…

The whole thing was such a shock that, like my grandson, I was paralyzed, not by fear, but by amazement, which has its own kind of terror. Believe me.

Phyllis Tickle

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 3, 2012

The slippery slope from believing into...living

Next Post

September 4, 2012 Life beyond the belief meter...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Atheism Authority Bible Cartoons Christian Year Christmas church church planting Civil Rights Community Contemplative Spirituality Culture emerging church Empire Eschatology Evangelism Events Gender Healing Humanism Islam Justice Kingdom Lent Movement Building Multi-Faith Music mysticism New Wave Emergence origins Personal Poetry politics Prayer Preaching Privilege Racism Religious naturalism Resurrection salvation SKEPTIMERGENT Theology Trauma Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Isaiah see in his vision in Isaiah 6?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A burning bush The Lord seated on His throne A chariot of fire A ladder to heaven