Snail Crossing

During an early morning walk it is not uncommon for me to see snails of all sizes crossing the road.  It must take hours for those persistent mollusks to slowly make their way across the bitumen.  People ask why the chicken crossed the road, but I don't have a clever punchline about why snails would cross the road from a green, lush grassland to a construction jobsite filled with bricks, sand and clay, where nothing is able to grow.  It makes no sense to me why a snail would venture across the road towards a location which will only bring certain death.  The saturated clay is covered with puddles that would drown snails that attempted to ford them, and there is no food source for them to eat and survive.

I imagine a snail crossing the road might say something like this:  "Life had become unbearable for me.  My spouse left me and I have nothing but trouble with my annoying brothers and sisters.  I was in an unfulfilling job, an abusive relationship, and had no direction or motivation to do anything.  I was depressed and had no hope of a better life.  It all changed when I decided to do what's best for me and to hit the open road to find adventure.  My life has been completely transformed for the better and I'm excited about my future.  I'm really living now."  I would say, "Mr. Snail, I'm sorry to paint a bleak picture for you, but from my perspective my eyes can see what you cannot from the ground.  You are leaving a lush paradise for a barren wasteland.  You might be excited about your bright future, but I can tell you beyond any doubt there is nothing but death ahead.  I urge you to turn around and head back to a place where you can live life to the full."

Now Mr. Snail, if he could think and talk, would likely trot out reasons to keep on going.  Having thrown off the shackles of his previous life going back was out of the question, yet I could clearly see it would only be a matter of time before the money was gone, the positive feelings wore off, and his hungry belly would start growling like the prodigal in the parable Jesus told.  I wondered:  would he be able to muster up the energy to make the return trip?  Should I just pick the snail up and throw it back to where there was plenty of food, water and others snails in his native environment?  I decided to let the snail be.  You see, it isn't just a chicken or snails that cross the road because of the hope of greener grass, for people do the same.  They choose to venture away from the presence of God Who has provided all their needs all along and go far from Him to explore, experience and pursue what they have not yet found by His side.  Because Jesus Christ is the Life, to leave Him is to cut ties with Him and head to certain ruin.

Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  It is a challenge to describe what "life" is, and it is found in Jesus who gives eternal life.  Like a branch is connected to the vine or a limb is connected to a human body, life is only found through a personal connection with God through faith in Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life.  The source of all life is in those who believe, and we in Him.  There is no life beyond Him.  People who say they "hate their life" may not realise they can rejoice in Christ who is our Life at all times.  A better life is not on the other side of the road or at the end of a rainbow:  abundant and eternal life is found in Christ now and forever and nowhere else.  Life is more than activity, a beating heart, breathing lungs, brain activity or thoughts.  All of these are physical signs of life, shadows of the real thing that transcends physical, spiritual and the temporal world we live in currently.  Jesus has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (2 Tim. 1:10), and in Him we live and have our being.

The incident on the road this morning demonstrated the short-sightedness of snails, and it is good we realise we human beings are much the same.  Snails and men alike find ourselves in ridiculous situations where we need assistance from God and others to help us find our way to the green fields and dewy grass where we can thrive under the protective guidance of the Good Shepherd, Jesus.  Except Jesus called our name and came after us, we would have gone to our doom in search of life found only in Him.  While I pondered these things, this is what I saw:

I was faced with a new question:  how did a snail manage to climb onto this car?  And how would he be able to safely crawl down?  There was nothing on this car the snail could eat:  why would the snail climb the tire?  How long did it take to crawl onto the rim, find the axle, somehow climb into the body of the car from the inside, then crawl outside?  A far easier explanation is the snail was placed there.  What this shows me is it does not matter how the snail ended up on the car or how long it took to navigate to the window:  what matters most is the snail be relocated to a place where it can feed, rest and thrive.  People find themselves in all manner of crazy places and have wild ideas about what an abundant life is, but Jesus Christ alone has the words of life because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He has come to reveal God's love to sinners and save us by His grace.  The hope of finding true life by crossing the road is a mirage as the prodigal son found out for himself and Mr. Snail would in due time.