Nature, A Puzzle

  

Art by Mike Cockrill

Blessed Holy Wholeness,
Flies have invaded my apartment
And I do not sanctify their lives. 
 
The flies wax and wane.
We kill off most of them but then
They always return. 
I don’t understand,
We keep the place clean and
We never see any maggots,
Where are these flies coming from? 
I hate them. 
There’s a particular loud buzz the flies generate when they’re captured on a sticky fly paper roll,
Trying to flee and freaking out. 
We revel in the sound,
We laugh!
It is disgusting. 
 
And yet,
I believe flies to be created in God’s image 
Just as I am. 
I know they are part of the divine continuum. 
I know they are necessary to the processing of waste
And that they are food for other animals in the chain of life.
I know that flies are as entitled to existence as anything else. 
Most of all,

I know that human intolerance 

Of the unpleasant, the inconvenient and/or the mysterious
In nature
Is destroying the planet.

Still, I hate them.
 
Blessed Holy Wholeness,
I cannot resolve the contradiction. 
Amen.