PORCUPINES

If I were a betting woman which I am not, I would wager that you have never given a thought to a porcupine. Why would you? I was not certain they actually existed. Who really wants to give any thought to the third largest rodent in the world and second largest in North America? When these rodent feels threatened (poked), it tenses and puffs itself up to attack by embedding quills with overlapping bards into its attacker. The kinder side to this story is that the quills are coated with a topical antibiotic so the attacked feels major pain from the hard to remove quills but is not likely to get an infection. An adult porcupine’s body, apart from the nose and legs, is covered with more than thirty thousand quills. They can fight for a long time and like most rodents they like darkness and sleep during the day.

My interest in this unique creature was sparked by a reference to it in one of my daily readings. The more I read about the critter, the more fascinated and convinced I became that porcupines are real, and some even walk the same paths I walk and look and act like humans.

Allow me to describe two of my porcupines. The first one is sweet and benign. Poke it with anything and it is ready to defend its territory. Its name is Sugar – chocolate, cake, cookies are not my weakness but a bite of either is my puff up porcupine. The quills embed in my brain cells, and it is hard to remove the renewed the desire for the tasty morsels. My body whines for more. I shouldn’t poke the internal porcupine.

I don’t know about you but there are a few (very few) people in my life who I’d like to exclude but can’t for one reason or another. These few people sometimes resemble the walking and breathing pincushion, another description of the porcupine. If things are going as they want, they are relaxed and easy to be around. The slightest threat to their comfort produces the porcupine-like response. The quills become erect and the potential for their attack becomes real. Recognition of the signs call for a plan to escape.

Strangely, I have grown to appreciate my porcupines. I am grateful for them. Each has strengthened my resolve to live a more disciplined and self-controlled life.

It occurs to me as I conclude this piece that perhaps sugar, and certain people are not the porcupines but the poke. Perhaps the porcupine is my desire to live a more discipline existence. When poked by either, the desire is puffed up, making it stronger and more able to withstand the next poke.

1 Peter 5:8

PONDER THIS THOUGHT --- Porcupines promote soul growth.