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


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