A Surprise in the Jungle

1 Cor. 11:27-28  Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Examining oneself is not just how we prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord’s Supper it should also be a daily exercise. We might deceive ourselves into believing that finding a flaw in ourselves of any noteworthy significance would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but it wouldn’t be true.  We just have to look a little closer.  

A few years ago, wildlife researchers deep in the forests of the Republic of Congo, announced that they discovered 125,000 gorillas that they did not know existed.  Before this discovery, experts estimated the number of gorillas to be less than 100,000.   The newly discovered gorilla population now puts their estimated numbers close to 225,000.  That’s a big banana of a discrepancy.

Gorillas are big animals and 125,000 is not a huge number.  How could that many gorillas stay hidden?! Did they do it on purpose?  Did they outsmart the “experts”? Did the gorilla counters just decide to not check the 18,000 square miles in which these gorillas reside?  This discovery makes me wonder about some of the scientific certainties that get crammed down our throats. Hmmmm. If they can miss a gorilla group larger than the size of most American cities, what else have they missed?  

Humans don’t know as much as we think we do and we have a tendency to overlook things.  I don’t see any other explanation.  I can’t imagine gorillas post lookouts on the tops of trees to warn the band about counters watching from planes and helicopters.  Hey, wait a minute … maybe that’s why gorillas pound their chest – to make a helicopter sound as a warning.

Anyway, this all makes me wonder if I have overlooked some gorillas in the jungles of my life; some of them might roar with pride and others might be laying low in the high grass. Either way, it would be good to know of their presence.   They could be all around me, but if I’m not looking for them, I won’t see them.  More than likely, there is someone in my life who has already discovered them and would be more than happy to point them out.  

There could also be another type of gorilla present in my life that I have failed to notice – good gorillas. When I am tempted to whine, complain and bemoan about how tough my life is, maybe I should open my eyes and heart a little wider. I bet I would find acres of my life populated with blessings from God that He sent my way without announcing them to me.  We used to sing an old hymn entitled “Count Your Blessings” that wouldn’t be a bad song to sing to ourselves in today’s world. I am going to spend some time today looking through the foliage of my life for good things of whose presence I am currently unaware, or unappreciative.  Why don’t you join me in a safari for things for which we should be grateful?  There may be a whole band of gorillas just waiting to be found – and it would be a whole lot more fun than finding a needle in a haystack.