L et me introduce myself. My name is Hurkermer. I’m a land turtle. While my days are filled with endless wanderings through tall grass, it gives me plenty of time to think. I sometimes wonder how I got here, and what, if any, purpose there is to my life. Not that I am complaining, mind you, but sometimes I wonder if there is more to life than eating beetles, chewing on grass and sweet clover. I’ve had some close calls in my life. God must have known what He was doing when He put this shell on me. If it weren’t for my shell, I wouldn’t be talking to you now. I’d be in turtle heaven. I’ve outlasted foxes, coyotes, dogs, and even a bobcat. Life in the turtle world has its dangers. I was even stepped on by a cow once. Thankfully, her hoof slid off my back, like water off a duck’s back. This occurred just after a rain and her stepping on me shoved me into the mud. It took me 20 minutes of squirming and hard digging to get out of that one. Life for us turtles tends to be tedious, slow going. Have you ever tried to push your way through grass 5-10 times taller than you are? It definitely builds stamina. I rarely feel the wind, although I can see it blowing the grass above me. I seldom have a sense of direction. I could be going in circles for all I know. Why am I talking to you? Well, something happened to me the other day that has perplexed me to no end. It changed my life forever, and I thought maybe you could help me make sense of it. It all began when I was pushing through the grass in search of food and water. It was a day, like any other day, when all of a sudden, as I went through this clump of grass, there before me was open space. I saw this thing, like the biggest rock you can imagine. It was smooth, gray in color, with white stripes down the middle of it. This flat rock went as far as I could see in either direction. It was the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen (I later heard that some call it a highway, whatever that is.). For the first time in my entire life I could see more than a few inches in front of me. I had no idea that the world was so BIG! It was incredible. It was more exciting than accidentally bumping into my cousin Bertha near the swamp two years ago. I just looked and looked and looked. Wow! It was great! The sun beating on this unending rock warmed my tummy. It almost made my little feet burn. I was enjoying my view so much that I decided to wander a bit further out onto this strange looking rock which went forever in either direction. Then things began to happen which scared me. I had never thought much about God until then. I had always believed in God, but I guess God seemed pretty far removed from turtle life—until that day.
Reflections Of A Turtle — AParable —
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