The Spider in my Shower

She’s been there for a week now. She was there the morning after the bug man came to spray the inside and outside of my home, putting up an invisible fence to keep the bugs out. It seems she found herself on the wrong side of the fence and couldn’t get back home.

She’s harmless, a grandaddy long legs. My daughter was bitten by a brown recluse once. Not harmless. But this spider doesn’t even build webs. When I shower, she moves out of the spray and waits for the heat to stop. She could climb back down the drain that I presume brought her to my shower, but she doesn’t.

Perhaps the bright white shower is better than the dark and dirty drain. There is water here. Except for my showers, the space is cool and predator free. Probably food free as well, which could shorten her visit.

I debate moving her outside, but my clumsy fingers would probably harm her if I didn’t cause her to have a heart attack in her weakened state. I don’t wish her harm. I keep my distance, and she keeps hers.

I sure some of you would have killed her by now. Who wants to shower with a spider?!

But she’d gotten me thinking about God and how evil people exist in the world when He could just get rid of them all. I’m content to co-exist with this spider because, unlike the brown recluse, she is not evil. Most likely, the brown recluse is not evil either but tell that to my daughter’s leg!

If I were to kill all spiders because some of them are dangerous, wouldn’t that be analogous to blowing up a workplace because your abusive ex worked there? Or to hating all (fill in the ethnicity) because you had an unpleasant experience with one of them?

And isn’t what we consider evil, at its core, just an exaggerated version of the emotions we all have?

But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. Matthew 5:22.

So, if I am liable to the hell of fire, which Jesus says I am, God cannot wipe out evil without wiping me out as well. And I don’t think God wants to get rid of ALL spiders. He may not want to get rid of any of them, as difficult as that may be for me to grasp. He sees the world from a much different perspective than I do. He regularly lets evil befall those He loves. Even His own son.

Heavy thoughts for a spider to generate.

The house cleaners are coming tomorrow, and I doubt they will let the spider continue to coexist with me. The cleaning solution would probably do her in if they don’t just kill her. So, her presence in my life is only for a short spell.

I don’t know if she appreciates my tolerance of her. I don’t know if she knows most people see spiders as threats. I don’t know if she thinks of people as threats and is re-evaluating her opinions. I don’t know that spiders have opinions at all, but they do instinctively shy away from the giant beings called people. They do, like the brown recluse, act to protect themselves when they feel threatened, even if the contact is unintended. Maybe, in their minds, we are the evil ones.

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9.

I’m not sure how much longer this spider will live, but I will not kill her. The shower is big enough for both of us.

Love in Christ, Betsy