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The Fly Idea



            How is it that given the same (or almost the same) circumstances, with different people, you can have such night and day responses. To illustrate this point, consider the following.
            Everyone is well acquainted with my little friend Musca domestica, or better known as the House Fly. He is quite the neat little feat of engineering. His wings are amazing, beating around 200 to 300 times a second for an average speed of 4.5 miles per hour. The wings provide enough power and precision for instant liftoff and complicated flight movements, such as tight spirals, zigzags and even backward maneuvers. If he did not have these wings he would not be named the fly, but the walk.
            And then there are the legs, which the fly uses to taste everything on which it lands. Tiny hairs on the end leg segment, work like human taste buds. For this reason, you can often spot houseflies walking around in circles on potential meals. The bottom of the housefly's feet have tiny, gripping claws and moist suction pads called pulvilli, which allow the fly to land almost anywhere.
            House fly eyes are compound organs that are comprised of thousands of individual lenses. Compound eyes are capable of detecting both the polarization of light and color spectrums unseen by humans. House fly eyes can recognize even the slightest movements in a full, 360-degree spectrum. This allows the fly to see a far wider range, as well as detect and react to movement at a quicker pace than species with simple eyes. This is the reason that it is extremely difficult to swat a housefly.
            Houseflies are meticulous in their grooming, particularly around their eyes. These flies use their forelegs to remove any material that has come into contact with the eyes.
            Now to my point since you have obtained an in-depth understanding of a little creature you so adamantly despise. Put aside the facts about these little guys being able to carry disease and whatever on their bodies.
            I have observed (I was specifically watching) multiple people interact with these flies. I myself have had a run in or two, since my wife demands the house be open air during the spring, summer and fall months, and having children, the doors tend to stay open more than not.
            Sitting in a chair relaxing, reading or some other important activity, a fly will land on me. Now, I am not the brightest of all God’s creatures (if you know what I mean), so forgive me that my mind does not forthwith snap into action with a red beacon light accompanied by a warning distress siren sounding that disease has touched down on the premises of my personage. No on the contrary, I actually enjoy the little bug. I let him crawl on me, up and down my arm, around my eyes, on my nose. If he comes to my mouth, well that’s just a little too close and personal. He really has no business there. I like to observe them, and in a weird twisted way, it kind of feels good how they tickle. That is just me though.
            I saw other people react to this very same creation of genius. It drove them to instantaneous  insanity. Arms waving and flailing about, as if they were being attacked with knife. They had no rest until their enemy of bubonic plague was eliminated. And I’ll bet if I asked most of the people that were on the brink of a psychological fly breakdown why they were so determined, I don’t think the answer would have sounded like this, “well, you know how much disease these creatures of death spread, I see it as my mission to stomp out, and rid the world of another “Mack the Knife .””
            The truth is they don’t like to be “bugged”. I have had many interactions with flies, and I have lived to tell about it. It’s not bragging really, because being so careless and living on the edge like I have done by flirting with these creatures in service of the grim reaper, might cost me one day.
            How can the same fly bring out such a different reaction in different people? Is it how the fly is relating? Hardly. He is doing the same thing he was designed to do, and has always done. How I react, is something that is inside of me. It was already there, it just took the fly to bring it out. In some, as I observed, it was peace, and intrigue, and others, it was almost an anger, chaos, and frenzy. All over a little fly.
            I find the same thing in other areas of our lives, not just in relation to a fly. So many situations and scenarios that come into our journey, present us with decisions of how we are going to react. When we do react, our actions can speak a lot about what is going on inside of our hearts. Action always follow belief. Certain situations can bring out who I really am quicker than others. We all have our specific “pet peeves” or weaknesses that drive us to the edge quicker than others, but that is not really an excuse.
            Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying to never swat a fly, I am only using this trite illustration to bring out the reactions that can be based off of a seemingly unimportant event. When things happen, look at your reaction, and ask yourself, “why am I reacting the way I am.” You might be surprised as to not only what you may learn, but also what God wants to put His finger on. A person who is alive in Messiah, and is indwelt and controlled  by the Spirit, is to have the evidences of the Spirit as spoken of by Paul in his letter to the Galatians (5:22). If these are not your reactions (as a pattern), and you find yourself on the opposite extreme of these things, like Mark Twain said, “whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” If I were driven into the wilderness (desert, it’s hot by the way), and had no food for 40 days, no air conditioning, and some little devil came buzzing around pestering me, trying to get me to break God’s command, and do anything but have me live in complete subjection to the Father, what would I do? Sorry to say, it does not take a wilderness journey most of the time, to get me flustered, and out of touch. It can be no air conditioning. Hot weather, cold weather, wet weather, dry weather, weather. Other bugs, let me tell you about mosquitoes. Just kidding. I think you get my drift.
            Next time a fly lands on you, think about this spiritual truth. Same fly, different reaction.
            "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man…those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man." Matt 15