How Do You Deal with the Creeping Iguanas
I began playing golf at the age of twelve, mistakenly believing it was a non-contact sport. Early in my Gerald Ford-like career I hit another golfer in the head, which in itself was remarkable because he was standing behind me . . . two fairways over. Playing golf through the years, I have had close encounters with squirrels, snakes, rabbits, birds (not birdies), deer, ducks, geese, a wolf, a fox, and one extremely disturbed and yet equally surprised gopher.
Other golfers have not been so lucky. A man at a Chicago course was bending over to pick up his golf ball out of the fairway when he was attacked by a hawk. This was clearly a case of fowl play. Alligators are a unique problem to Florida courses. One ten-foot male alligator in Tampa became so aggressive wildlife experts had to help it move to another location. Country music stars gathered for a benefit concert to help pay for the move. They called it GatorAid. Sadly, a golfer in South Africa was attacked by an elephant and a boy in Australia was beaten by a kangaroo. The boy shot 80, the kangaroo shot 72.
Recent newspaper accounts have kept us informed of other dangerous encounters between humans and animals, away from the golf course. A 330-pound black bear was photographed in Gatlinburg going through dumpsters. Authorities concluded he was just looking for the bear necessities. Meanwhile, a man in Michigan went after a possum in his kitchen. He tried to shoot him but shot the stove’s gas line instead. The kitchen was destroyed. The possum survived. The Fire Marshall concluded the shot was impossumble.
One family became so exasperated with wild pigs in their garden they finally opened a theme park. They named it Jurassic Pork. Here’s the really scary story. iguanas are creeping onto the island of Anguilla. They normally live in trees and were apparently blown off of their own island by a hurricane, still in their trees, and drifted two hundred miles to Anguilla, jumping the last few feet from the trees to the island. These, of course, would be the leaping lizards.
We all expect a few problems. They are inevitable. It’s the events creeping into our lives unexpectedly that seem to really get us down. No one expects a job layoff, a relationship to dissolve, sudden financial hardships, or a loved one to get cancer. We grieve, we deny, we get angry, we try to move on. It is a natural display of emotions and sometimes a lengthy process to work through.
In the midst of trying times we have some comforting words from Jesus. Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (NLB).
We can find rest in God. It’s one of his promises. We need to trust in God as a way of life rather than as a way out of circumstances. We will still grieve, deny, and get angry, but if we walk with God daily we can work through the expected difficulties . . . and be better prepared for the creeping iguanas.