The Cicada and The Cross

 

While taking a walk around the neighborhood with our dog TJ, I noticed a large insect with translucent green wings slowly climbing up a fence towards some overhanging junipers. Looking more closely, I spotted another object beneath it, a hard outer shell that looked somewhat like a brown beetle.

 Supposedly the insect had just emerged from a long slit on the back of the shell. It was an amazing sight that made me curious to find out more information!

After stopping for a while to observe both of them, I decided to take TJ home. It was too chilly that day to go on without a jacket, and I wanted to write down what I had seen in my journal before it slipped out of my memory.  There must be a message in that sighting, I thought.

 The closest thing I could find on the computer was the cicada, which lives underground as a nymph for most of its life before molting and emerging as a winged adult.

 A few days later, our neighbor Hermine joined TJ and me on the walk.  When we went past the same spot, I showed her the shell, or “exuvia,” still attached to the wooden fence. The cicada had vanished though.

 “Oh, I found one like it in my garden,” Hermine said. She took out her cell and showed me several pictures that she had taken of it. “What is it?”

“I think it’s from a cicada,” I responded.

 Several busy days passed, leaving me drained and tired out.  When it came time to think about writing the weekly article for the newspaper, it was hard to discern what had God been doing in my life or what message He had for me to share that week.

 After praying for His direction,  the cicada suddenly popped into my mind. There wasn’t much to write about. But I decided to walk back to the same fence. If the exuvia was still there I could at least take a picture of it.

“Well, Lord,” I prayed, “if you want me to write about that cicada, please confirm it to me.” 

Al was in the front yard spraying the lawn for unwanted weeds. When I told him where TJ and I were going and explained my mission he said, “Oh, there’s one hanging on our liquid amber tree. Look, you can see it from here!”

He was right! There was a large brown bump visible on the tree trunk from where we were standing. We went over to look.

Well, that was a pretty good confirmation—three of them in the span of two weeks! Al took many pictures of the exuvia as TJ waited patiently, before continuing on our way.

Before we could reach the spot on the fence where I had seen the first exuvia, I spotted a large insect lying on the adjoining driveway and stooped down to look.  It turned out to be a deceased cicada! Was it the same one? Another confirmation anyway!

 I put the cicada in a bag and continued down the street for several blocks before turning around. On the way home we crossed the street to the Catholic church whose bells often resound through the neighborhood. The cross mounted on top of a tall green spire caught my attention with the clear blue sky as its backdrop.  

 In the beauty and peace of the moment, the message came together…the outer shell, the cicada and the cross—our bodies, tired and weak, worn out from the challenges of life, our souls ready to be set free, and the promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

 One day we’ll receive new bodies that will never wear out. Until then, may we walk with the Lord each day, hand in hand, into eternity.

“ When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body…. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”

Thanks be to God!

1 Corinthians 15:37-38, 42-43 NIV