ANT PHILOSOPHY

                                        
One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather cross my back 
terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause 
it would make the necessary detour.
At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief 
contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the 
feather on the other side then continued on its way.
I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of God's smallest creatures. It served to 
reinforce the miracle of creation. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a 
brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents 
of this planet, also shares human failings.
After some time the ant finally reached its destination - a flower bed at the end of the terrace 
and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant 
finally met its match. How could that large feather possibly fit down small hole?
Of course it couldn't. So the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, 
overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home.
The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end 
the feather was nothing more than a burden.
Isn't our life like that?
We worry about our family; we worry about money or the lack of it, we worry about work, about 
where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens - the things we pick up along 
life's path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to 
find that at the destination they are useless and we can't take them with us......
I thought I wasted my time by watching the ants but now I think I learned a lesson from the 
ants. Now let us see what we learn from this story. I think everybody should study ants. They 
have an amazing four-part philosophy.
Here is the first part: Ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If they're headed somewhere 
and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, 
they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit 
looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.
Second,ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as 
to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of 
summer.
An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need 
that advice? Because it is important to be realistic. In the summer, you've got to think storm. 
You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun. Think ahead.
The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. 
During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." 
And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then 
they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.
And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer 
to prepare for the winter? All that he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-that-
you-possibly- can" philosophy.
So that's what the ant philosophy covers - 
 
Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and 
do all you can and trust god to fill the blank.