A few weeks ago, my kids decided they needed ant farms. My son brought me enough money for one, and I
ordered it for him. My daughter was also
desperate for one, so she brought me money and I ordered her one, too.
They arrived a few days later and the ants followed soon
after. These aren’t ant farms like the
ones I grew up with. Instead of sand in
a very tall skinny ant farm, these are much thicker and shorter, and they’re
filled with blue gel. The gel is interesting:
it is both food and water for the ants, and they can move it just like
sand. Lights in the farm, coupled with
the transparency of the gel allow you to see the ants in their tunnels anywhere
in the ant farm. This means that when I
dumped the ants into the ant farm, they immediately had both food and
water. They didn’t need anything else to
live. And yet, they immediately began to
make tunnels.
I thought over the next few days about our lives, and the
parallels. Many years ago, humans worked
from daybreak until sunset in order to meet their basic needs. In this day and age, most people can earn
enough to meet their basic needs in just five days a week, roughly eight hours
a day. Life has grown easier. Some people can earn a living in even less
time. In fact, if we don't work at all, the government will make sure we don't starve.
But like the ants, humans need work to be happy. There have been a lot of times during my life
that I’ve thought I would be better off if I could only get a break. I have been desperate for vacation, for recreation, or for some kind of time off. That
being said, I have always known that the break was beneficial specifically
because I had been working hard. Like
those ants, we need to be working, building tunnels, being productive to find
purpose in this life. We may have food
and water, but the human soul requires more.
I thought this was the lesson the ants were meant to teach
me.
I was wrong.
As the weeks have passed, I have noticed something
else. The ants never take a break. They attack the building of more tunnels with
a single minded ferocity, dare I say, as though they have tunnel vision. I do strongly believe that work helps us
grow, and it shapes us. It brings us
joy. However, I have also felt very
strongly that we may all be as misguided as those little ants sometimes. We can become focused on building tunnels to
the exclusion of all else. The type of
tunnel we are building varies widely from person to person. Your tunnel may be money, facebook, career
advancement, notoriety, home remodeling/decorating, or acquisition of baby
clothes. I have been struggling with buying too many baby clothes lately... HA! There are so many, many
tunnels we can build. Only you can
identify yours.
In my life, I’ve been building tunnels lately. And missing out on time I could be spending
focused on what matters most: scripture reading, prayer and time with my
family.
The scriptures are quite clear on this point. In the Book of Matthew, the Savior says,
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you.”
He doesn’t say that you can’t build tunnels, but we are
instructed to build up the kingdom of God first. In the same chapter, Christ also says, “Lay
not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven…for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
This week, my point is very simple. You need to work, and you need to be
productive, but a balance must be struck.
Build tunnels, but leave yourself time for what matters even more. To me, that means you go to church, you read
your scriptures and say your prayers, and you make time for family. You talk to your family, teach them the
things of God and have fun with them.
These are the things that build God’s kingdom.
Take a lesson from the ants.
Build those tunnels, but take a bit of time to thank your Heavenly
Father for His help in building them, and spend some time enjoying them and the world around you, too.
 |
| Kids do such a great job at remembering to enjoy what is right in front of them. |
