It may be an unforgivable sin to post here that Amy Carmichael is not my all-time, world-renowned, cannot-get-enough-of-her hero. In fact, when I think of "hero" her name doesn't even make my list. It's not that I don't admire her...I just think if I'm going to have a human idol I'll go with Stonewall Jackson or Jefferson Davis.
It may also be an unforgivable sin to then add I've read hardly anything about her or by her. And the one thing that sticks out in my head that I did read has nothing to do with her spirituality, or poetry, or sacrificial service in India. What I always remember is she told the children under her care it was okay to kill an insect inside the house. For that is not where insects belong. Since then I have never blinked twice about killing an insect inside my house.
And since I'm confessing, I will add that I am prejudiced. For if I find a ladybug inside my house, I usually catch it and let it back outside. Moths I don't bother at all (as long a they're not an inch or more large) and roly-polys I ignore. But if the said insect has a sting attached to one side of its body or is a near cousin even without the stinger...well, that insect is history.
This morning such an insect was in my bedroom. I don't think it had a stinger, but it was certainly a member of the wasp family. And, remembering Amy Carmichael's wise words, I promptly found something to kill it with and commenced with the chase. My prey liked to hide up my lamp shade, so I spent quite a bit of time trying to get it to come out. When it finally did, I lost it for a moment. But I rediscovered it on the wall and extinguished it. Thus ended my five-minute morning exercise.
Morning exercise is a good thing. Perhaps tomorrow I'll kill a hornet.
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