Lessons from the sea Part 3: Crab Holes

Let each esteem the other better than themselves (Philippians 2:3)


Crab Holes


I credit Irwin for the enlightening discourse which generated this blog. As we engaged in our morning exercise on the beach, I said to him, "the sea is just generating muses for my blogs. Do you have a muse to share?"
I was rewarded with a grin as he responded "Crab Holes".
My interest instantly peaked. Crab holes. I had seen the holes, wondered about them fleetingly and forgotten about them because of my fixation on the terrifying beauty of the ocean. Our discourse served as fodder for the following narrative.

Meanwhile, amidst the vicious wind, raging sea and pouring rain, three crabholes were visible on ground. The crabs were together in their little holes covered safe and sound.

Crab Holes

Allow me to juxtapose this image of crabs in a hole safe and snug in the midst of a tempest, with the image of crabs in a barrel crawling on one another to get out.


The crab-in-a-barrel mentality is provided in the Bible in Genesis 25:25&26, "The first came out...afterward his brother came out with his hand holding [his brother's] heel" almost as if preventing him from being the firstborn. This mentality was further enacted with the stealing of the birthright, and was also played out in other aspects of the relationship between Jacob and Esau a twin. Crab mentality is largely based on a desire for supremacy, power and authority at the expense of others. Trauma and scars are the remnants of battles fought by crabs in a barrel. The barrel can be any physical space within which the crabs are grouped - school, the workplace, church or homes. Crab mentality exists all around us.

After effects of crab mentality

We only become crabs in a barrel in a man-made environment. If we are connected to Jesus, we will not fall in the 'crab in a barrel' syndrome.
The crabs in the hole were diametrically opposed to the crabs in the barrel. They worked together to withstand the ravages of the storm, rather than against each other to see about themselves.

Let us not pull others down in order to elevate ourselves. Rather let us esteem each other better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3) and in so doing build up the kingdom of God. If we are truly connected to Jesus, our boundaries will be limitless. Put another way, we will neither be restricted to a barrel nor a hole!

Up next
New Beginnings: Footprints in the Sand


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TRAPPED: One man's joy... By Petra Pierre-Robertson Robertson

Image
Proverbs 14:10 Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy. The grate was meant to prevent accident or injury for us. In an unguarded moment we could misstep, or fall, spraining an ankle or sustaining other injury in the process. It was necessary. It also added to the aesthetics. I should also mention that birds share our habitat. We love having them around. The sight of them. The sound of them. We love the sight and sound of them On day one of the job, a bird was trapped. It found its way under the grate, probably lured by a bite, or out of curiosity. We saw it in time. It kept going further into danger, going up trying to escape, when it should be going down. We pointed it in the correct direction coaxed it and led it out of the trap. Trapped On day two another bird was not as fortunate. We saw it too late. We surmised that something caught its attention, probably a morsel and it poked its head through the grate and was trapped. The sight of it t
Read more

Conflicting Signals by Petra Pierre-Robertson

Image
Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. It was a demonstration for a class. It was set up in the library. It looked so cute I stopped to take pictures. I had no idea what the objectives for the lesson were, but as I took the pictures my own lessons, encapsulated in the title of the blog, came to mind So many voices! Have you ever been inundated with voices? All legitimate? Yet all giving conflicting signals? Or different instruction? And were you ever at your wits end wondering just who should you listen to? There are just so many voices, sometimes. And oftentimes what causes even more confusion is that these voices come from legitimate sources at home, church, school and society! There are just so many voices, sometimes! The still small voice I think of Elijah. He heard several diverse voices in the wind, in the earthquake, and in the fire. Yet, at that point of his experience, even though in other situations G
Read more

What's in the Darkness by Petra Pierre-Robertson

Image
Daniel 2:22 "He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him" It was early morning. The windows were closed. The curtains were drawn. The silence of morning was therapeutic as I walked through the house planning my day in my head. Three major tasks swam in my head. I headed to my 'To Do" memo pad to document them. Thankfully no major cleaning was necessary. As I passed the living room I noted a little debris on the rug so I digressed for the broom and dust tray to sweep the debris off the rug. Small debris on the rug I pulled back the curtain. The early morning sunlight seeped through. And immediately I saw them; little particles of dust in a straight line riding on the beam of the sun. Instinctively I held my breath as I walked through them. Then it occurred to me,  the particles are in the entire room. I pulled the curtain wider. Additional particles joined the ride and danced on a widened beam.  Dust particles da
Read more