Ant Wars

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Dear Family in Christ, 

There is a metaphor that has become increasingly relevant. It goes by the name ‘Ant Wars’, and is attributed by some to American nature writer Henry David Thoreau. It goes a little something like this:

Red ants and blue ants, when placed in a jar or a terrarium, coexist peacefully. They largely do their own thing, keep to their own kind, but occasionally work together and share resources. When someone shakes the jar, however, the ants take sides, and red and blue begin killing each other, mistaking ants of the other colour as the enemy. In reality, of course, the real enemy is the one shaking the jar. The manufactured conflict consumes the ants so much that they neglect the reality of their duties: gathering food, breeding, and building shelter. Even if they are victorious in killing the other coloured ants, they still suffer and eventually die as a result of this neglect. 

The practical application is this: we, like the ants, experience crisis and division- in our world, in our country of Canada, in our city of Thorold, sadly, in our Church, tragically in our own families, and ironically, even within our own hearts. Our lives are constantly being shaken, and in response we are all too quick to pick an enemy; the liberal, the conservative, or whatever label we choose or whomever the person on our screen tells us to hate.

It is becoming increasingly clear that someone is shaking the jar. Our true enemy is not the person I disagree with, but the Deceiver, the Diabolos, the one who sows division. When we ignore the fact that we have an enemy, everyone else becomes the enemy, and we feel that our hatred is excusable, and even virtuous. And isn’t that what Satan wants?

In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth, because as Christians we are different. But this comes with a warning- if salt loses its taste, if Christians become no different than everybody else, then it is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot. I can think of few ways for me as a Christian to lose my ‘saltiness’ than to get so wrapped up in the current politics that I forget who my true neighbours are, and who the Enemy is. 

Keep your saltiness, dear family. Lift up your hearts above the confusion, and be vigilant. Do not forget about God Our Father, and remember who shakes the jar. 

God love you, 

Father Daniel