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Born to be Off the Wall Sept 7, 2006 I think we humans take much too much for granted. We never take into consideration the fact that we could have been born something other than a person. Now, I can hear someone saying already, "Hey Pee Vee, you better keep your day job. This is a bit off the wall!" Well, where would my columns be if I didn't throw something in the newspaper every once in a while that is totally bizarre. After all, that is how I started out. So, why not have one of those thought-provoking, noodle scratchers that may not be your everyday reading material, but never the less, something to ponder. Think of all the creatures we could have been if God would have decided He wanted us them instead of people. You could have been a dog, horse, monkey, rat, lizard, fish, snail or even a boar. Now, don't tell me your neighbor is a bore, because you are characterizing a human. I am talking about the other inhabitants of this planet that you may like to kill, put in aquariums, step on and even swat at. Even though life gets to be troublesome at times, we have no idea what it is like to be an insect, for example. Just the other day, a bumble bee flew into my back yard and landed on a clover. I thought to myself, "That could have been me!" A fellow came into the store last month and told me that osprey and the great blue heron are living below the helipad at Excela Health Latrobe Hospital because there are so many fish in the Loyalhanna Creek. To think that there are birds hovering above eyeing me for a meal would give anything the willies, if you ask me. Sometimes I wonder how complex the brain is of a rabbit or chipmunk. It must be frightening to know that any minutes claws could be stuck into my side and my life would be snuffed out because some red-tailed hawk wanted to enjoy some dinner. And what about the mosquito everybody's favorite insect. I have had more people tell me when they get to heaven, the first question they are going to ask God is, "Why did you make those menacing insects?" Do you suppose all creatures other than humans would have liked to be people instead? But if we had all people and not insects, maybe we wouldn't have pollination, food to eat and appreciation of God's goodness as a whole. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like seeing the world from the eyes of a giraffe, for example. Talk about aerial vision, this is one critter that has a ring side seat to anything going around it. However, it must be strange to be an ant looking up the legs at this giant body. When it comes right down to it, I don't think I care to be an ant or anything that something is stalking to eat me. I wouldn't mind being a bee, for then I would have time to smell the roses. There would be lots of fellowship in a hive, and I just may get to taste a bit of that honey. Most dogs that I know have a very leisurely life. As puppies, they are cuddled, cared for to the ultimate and fed abundantly. I could handle that. There is nothing like being cute and loved all at the same time. People would be leaning over just to pet my furry coat. Oh would that feel good. I guess you could compare that to a back rub in people terms. Other animals also get a lot of attention. Some cats get similar attention. Like dogs, I would be allowed to roam all over the house, sleep most of the day and eat to my heart's content. Still with all that glamour, there are definite shortcomings when being part of such lower life. I'm not for being hog-tied, leashed, lassoed, and threatened of being killed for my antlers or the like. Even though I wouldn't mind being a pampered little dog, that may be a plus to many other negatives. All in all, I'm grateful God made me a human. It beats being chased by someone manning a fly swatter!!!
Paul j. volkmann 7/13/06 |
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