In the month of September a certain insect will appear on the outside walls of my house. I see them at no other time of year. They seem to show up out of the blue, and then just as quickly, fade away by October. Now, compared with other creatures on this good earth, insects seem to win the award in strangeness. And this particular insect is no different. They have slender, elongated bodies 4-6" in length that connect to a triangular shaped head, which itself can turn 180-degrees. Green or brown in color, these insects possess transparent wings to match their long and narrow bodies. At first sight, the critters look like a cross between a grasshopper and a twig. And their eyes? Classic bug. And with this brief description, I speak none other than of the mantis religiosa, or as they are commonly known, the praying mantis.

          First the name. "Praying" refers to the insect’s posture. By all appearances, the mantis is the most pious of creatures. As it rests motionless on a wall or tree or bush, the mantis scrunches up its forelegs and keeps them reverently folded together. But the posture belies the purpose. The prayerful pose of the mantis is actually the insect’s bread and butter. As an unsuspecting moth or spider (or would you believe hummingbird?) saddles up close to it, the mantis suddenly thrusts its pincer-like forelegs into its victim and devours it alive-- usually starting at the neck. No room for mercy here. You have to survive, after all, so the mantis realizes that to be a prEying mantis, you have to be a prAying mantis. It knows full well that an humble, pious posture can reap enormous rewards.

          Is it surprising, then, that I find the praying mantis a bit unnerving? If you take the insect’s bizarre looks and combine them with its snatch-and-grab ways, you’ve got makings of a good scare. And on many mornings in September as I open the front door to go outside, that scare is right in front of me. And believe me: the sudden sight of a praying mantis on a door frame will jolt me awake faster than that first cup of Starbucks!

          Apparently, the praying mantis has been around a long time. In fact by Mark’s account, they seemed in plentiful supply in the days when the Lord walked among us. In his depiction of Jesus’ religious antagonists, Mark portrays characters who live well beneath their human dignity-- much like the main character of a Kafka novel. They are characters who pose piously to promote their interests, not those of God. As if to assume the higher moral ground, they look innocuously on those around them, only to bite the neck of anyone who threatens their space.

          As people of faith, our task is not to identify and classify the praying mantis over in the next pew or neighboring church. Moreover, our charge is not to sweep them out of our sights or out of our lives. Let the gospel make the judgments. Rather, our call is to continually question and challenge our religious posture. What lies behind it? What motivates it? If it’s anything less than the fullness of Christ’s presence on earth, we know we’ve yet to become the people God calls us to be.

 

©Tom Mannebach