When I was a little girl we raised hogs. Daddy use to take me with him to feed them slop. (Truly, that is what it was.) When Daddy poured that slop into their trough, they'd all come running. They'd be pushing and shoving to get at that gruel and had no manners whatsoever.
I use to love to stand on the fence and watch them wallow in the mud. They were funny--especially when they had little piglets. They'd root with their noses, and just wiggle around and turn over on their backs and flip around just like I would do when I went swimming in the Potomac River. Daddy would warn, "Don't get too close, baby. Those hogs will hurt you if you fall in."
I thought it must have been quite risky to fall into the pigpen. Sometimes when Daddy was at work, I'd ask Momma if I could go watch the pigs and she wouldn't let me. "Those hogs will kill you if you fall in." When I grew older, I realized they knew full well, that had I been left to my own desires, I'd climb over that fence and tried to pick up one of those little piglets. While those piglets were like little puppies, those hogs weighed a ton and the mommas can be quite protective. But mostly, Momma didn't want me crawling into that pen and coming back all covered in stinking mud.
In the grand scheme of life, I've found my childhood experience a valuable lesson. It's kinda like that scripture, "Don't cast your pearls before swine." What happens when you toss pearls in a pigpen? They get covered in slime, mud and slop. So my philosphy is let the pigs wallow. Some folks may watch the pigs wallow, and find it amusing and entertaining. Some may not stay too long for the stench on the downdrift of a breeze. Some may even hop in and try to grab someone who's carelessly fallen in or unwittingly jumped in to play with a piglet. However, most people don't climb into pigpens. They may stand on the fence. They just don't want to join pigs in their mudslinging activity. And who could blame them? selahV
[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008] HEY! Don't forget to visit dailyIMPACT by SelahV for my devotional thought today.
