Article February 10, 2014 Issue

Good purpose for all ... even mosquitoes?

Matt Schmidt

A quick glance at the news presents plenty of evidence of situations where one person feels they need to harm another to get good for themselves. It could involve tyranny and violence surrounding elections, communal disobedience of laws, or individual corruption or bullying. It might even be as simple as accepting the concept of pesky mosquitoes that seem to survive by living off others. Recently, I went for an early morning hike in a nearby forest. I had planned on stopping periodically to read and then, while walking, to pray and reflect. But as I got deeper into the woods, the mosquitoes and flies were biting regularly. My breaks got shorter, and the walk was less peaceful.

I decided to address this situation prayerfully. My first thought was a quote from Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that points out all of God’s creation is “harmless, useful, indestructible” (p. 514). I feel this passage expounds on the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis, which declares God’s affirmation of all of His creation as good (verse 31). To be honest I wasn’t so much interested in the mosquitoes being “indestructible,” I just wanted them to be “harmless”!

As I prayed more, it became clear I had to address the mistaken idea that I, as a child of God, was mortal and susceptible to harm. The world’s perspective presents decay and weakness and vulnerability as a natural part of life. However, the Bible contains various accounts of the good news that Jesus freed himself and others from these mortal limitations. And I feel that, as a child of God and a “joint-heir[s] with Christ” (see Romans 8:16, 17), only my Creator could bear witness to who I truly am.