Facing Fears

Lindsay, Ellie and I are enjoying a pleasant week in Florida with family and friends where we are able to head to the beach, the driving range, and just plain relax. The only problem is that every night I have to walk past three of the biggest spider and spider webs to get to the apartment. Ever since I saw Arachnophobia at 12 years old, I have had a rational, appropriate and reasonable (or so I tell myself) fear of spiders.
Needless to say, each evening involves a short prayer and a fast sprint beyond these webs. In the morning, however, I have actually stopped to watch them because I able to see these creatures in a new light. And though my heart pounds, I am amazed by their web design.
These webs are probably 5 feet in diameter with two or three levels to them. They are strategically placed near a light so that when the bugs congregate around the light at the evening they will inevitably get trapped. During the day, I have seen a bee get stuck in the web and struggle to escape. As the bee and the spider danced for survival, I realized that this is an unintentional artistic expression of the spider, because she is more interested in her food then her design,
So like a mischievous 5th grader, I threw a small piece of paper into the web. Immediately the spider sprung into action to attack this prey. But this time, she was able to discern that this scrap of paper would not be dinner and quickly cut the nuisance from her web.
Now, as I walk past the web deep within the layers of this expansive design is a hole. A twinge of guilt appears as I realize that it marks the place where I interfered with this spider's creation. But then I will have flashes of Arachnophobia, and remember that these are deadly pests that can kill John Goodman , and anyone with good rational sense would be terrified by these creatures.