If snails have an organized civilization, the concrete walk from my driveway to the front door must be one of their superhighways. I often see several of the little guys there as I make my way from the car to the house.
Apparently snails can feel the vibration of me walking. They stop and pull their heads and antennae inside their shells for what they must think is protection. Of course this is beyond futile as I’m thousands of times their size and weight. Nevertheless, not wishing to commit snail-icide, I step carefully or relocate them to the grass where they’re headed.
My interactions with God are not dissimilar. I sometimes do everything I can to shield myself from The Big Guy, thinking that some horrible fate is in store. Simple reflection would reveal the silliness of that. And my fears are totally unfounded anyway, because the One who loves me has no desire to crush my world for the fun of it. Often he lends a divine hand. Other times, he leaves me to go on my way.
Snails move pretty slowly, and I gain understanding of the spiritual life about as fast. But at least I let them teach me something in this case.
The snail analogy to our spiritual journey reminds me of a joke. A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can. A year later, there’s another knock at the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says, “What was that all about?”
In my interactions with God, “What was that all about?” has been a recurring question. In almost all cases, I eventually see that it was my free will that led me down paths that were at odds with His will for me. Slowly but surely, I learn from each of these missteps and grow in my spiritual understanding. I wish it didn’t take so long, but I’m glad God patiently awaits my arrival and resists the impulse to pick me up and throw me as far as He can.