The Spider

I have a new friend that lives in my backyard. It’s a little pale orangey-white spider, maybe a half-inch in size, and it lives behind a ceramic basket that’s hanging on a post of the patio cover. It probably chose this place because it’s relatively undisturbed most of the time. I use the basket to leave the gardener’s check at the end of each month.

Every night, this little creature spins an intricate web that’s maybe 18 to 20 inches in diameter. I wish I could see how it does it, because the web seems to hang suspended in mid-air with only the thinnest filaments of silk anchoring it from the ceramic basket to the fascia board along the back eaves of our house, a distance of probably six feet at least.

Most mornings, especially during the warmer months, I take my coffee and my phone out to the back patio and sit in a rocking chair while I read the Bible from an app on my phone (ReadScripture – I highly recommend it).  And there, every morning, waving like a flag in the breeze, is this beautiful web with my new friend in the center, waiting patiently for its prey.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a spider web? It’s not easy. I don’t want to get too close because, after all, it IS a spider, and well … eewww.  But when you’re retired and have the time to appreciate the intricacy of their work, capturing a photograph is a challenging but rewarding way to pass the time. The next time you see a spider web, instead of grabbing for the broom to obliterate their hard work and give that spider a good whack in the process – which, admit it, we are all inclined to do from time to time – take a few minutes to watch and learn.

What I learned is that this amazing little creature does not just abandon its web when it’s done its job. After it’s eaten its meal and is satisfied, it very cleverly folds its tent (so to speak) and hauls it all back to its home behind the ceramic basket! It does this by first scampering up to the top edge of the web, grabbing the filaments at the edge and bringing them all down to the center of the web in a tidy bundle. Then it scampers down to the bottom edge of the web and does the same thing, bringing them up to meet the others in the middle. Then it pulls everything into a neat little pack and climbs up the filament that leads to its home behind the basket. No remnants of the web remain. It simply vanishes. But every morning a new web has been spun and hangs in its place.  A gentle reminder from nature about the endless mercies of God.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.”  Lamentations 3:22 & 23