Do you have a mentality like Nathanael, before he met…
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” John 1:47 (NKJV)
By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
I was thinking about ants and how they march in line and seem to be so organized. Going to and fro sniffing each other to be sure of their safety and to find food from a sent trail that one of their fellow ants have left. Ants are really unique.
If a human could run as fast for their size as an ant can, they could run as fast as a racehorse. Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight. An ant brain has about 250,000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.
A certain species of ant have been known to devastate an entire forest when they unite.
As strong and unique as they are they are just as weak because they enslave other ants. Ants practice slavery.
Many species of ants are known to raid neighboring colonies and steal eggs or larvae in a practice known as “dulosis”. The forcibly acquired young are then either eaten or put to work.
Species that practice dulosis are called, quite simply, “slave-making ants,” and they rely on this practice to support their colonies. In fact, some species of ants are thought to be incapable of feeding themselves in the absence of slave labor — to pillage and enslave is all they know. [Slave raiding ants via. In his new book, Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions, explorer, biologist, and photographer Mark W. Moffett]
Watching and revisiting some facts about ants, I was reminded of a sermon that Dr. Jeremiah Wright preached a few Sundays ago at Mt. Bethel AME Church in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright’s sermon topic was God is on a manhunt and he spoke from the book of John first chapter versus 35 to 47 and he talked about how Jesus went out and was gathering his disciples.
As he preached how Jesus went about getting His disciples, there was one in particular that made me think of us as a race of people and how we devalue our strengths; when he spoke about Nathanael. I’m not talking about our physical attributes alone; I’m referring to our capacity to construct positively anything man made under the sun.
When Nathanael was told that they had seen the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and to come and follow Him with Andrew and Peter, Nathanael’s response was, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”
Now let’s step into today and lets call the ‘Hood’ Nazareth and for conversation let’s use Tyrone instead of Jesus.
So many times we have damaged and destroyed any hopes of our prospering because we believe as Nathanael did- that nothing good can come from the hood or in a broader sense, Blackness.
With this Nathanael antlike mentality, when we find ourselves in mixed company we refuse to build each other up. Instead, due to the constrictive flow of the impulse to encourage we gravel like beggars at massa table for scraps.
This juxtaposition is caused when one has lost their true identity and wishes to assimilate to what is perceived to be ‘better than’.
Like the ant, we are unique, strong for our size, endured many devastations that have been designed to eradicate us and yes we have been around since the beginning of time; but if we don’t believe that anything good can come from our Blackness, we will go the way of the dinosaur; vanished.
“Lord, before my journey here on earth has ended make me to be like those who You have allowed to make a difference and see that Your good can come from anywhere.”
When God calls you, your indifference will become His concern.
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