01-21-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
January 21, 2025
I was reading an article on the BBC’s website about venomous caterpillars. Just the headline caught my attention. I do not tend to think of caterpillars as venomous, though I probably should as I was stung a couple of years ago by a woollybear caterpillar while cutting some tree limbs. Wow! That was painful. The article pointed out how scientists have been and continue to look at venom of different creatures because they are a better way to find new drug candidates than starting from scratch. They contain molecules fine-tuned over millions of years to target specific biological processes in the victim. Evolution has shaped these chemical compounds in a way that would be nearly impossible in a laboratory. One of the new sought-after weight loss medications comes from a molecule extracted from a venomous lizard. 

Some of you might be scratching your heads and wondering where I’m headed with all this, but if you’ve followed me for a while, you know I can be quite random. However, I find it intriguing how something that falls under the category of venom, and for that very reason, is something we tend to avoid, can actually possess properties that are healing or life-changing. We live in a world that judges various things that might initially seem dangerous but, upon closer examination, can actually be a blessing. It’s all about the preconceived ideas we bring to whatever we are observing. If we assume that it will be forever defined by the title it was given, then we won’t ever see what else it has to offer. 

The world around us is full of surprises, but we pray, O God of immeasurable possibilities, for the capacity to see beyond the assumptions we might have embedded within us. Amen.