For a moment I squinted through my own spectacles, and wondered if I needed to change my pair, “A squirrel wearing glasses!” I said to myself, as I watched her staring at me through her bifocals.
“Lecherous, aren’t you?” she said.
“Lecherous?” I asked, not for a moment wondering why I was talking back to a squirrel.
“Yes, staring at me like that! Before I wore glasses, I could never see the true reason for such behavior.
“And now with glasses?” I asked curiously.
“I’ve grown to learn more,” she beamed, as she lay sprawled on my garden wall, “My knowledge has increased by leaps and bounds!”
“Oh yeah,” I said carefully, “With your glasses you now think of me as a lech, for innocently peering at you?”
“Why else would a man stare at a woman like you just did?” asked the squirrel.
“To wonder with complete astonishment why a squirrel is wearing glasses!” I said.
“With these glasses,” said Mrs Squirrel, drawing herself to her full length, which really wasn’t much unless you added her tail, “I’ve grown to become more knowledgeable!”
“Is that so?” I asked.
“Every morning I used to come and eat the slices of bread and chappatis you kept for me and the birds, but today as you can see, I haven’t eaten your crumbs!”
“Now why would you do that?” I asked bemused.
“Because I know I’m entitled to more, much more!”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like your cars, your houses, your money, your wealth!”
“Whoa! Whoa!” I said, “All this thinking came after you got your glasses?
“Yes,” said the squirrel with glasses squinting at me, then looking around “Now I can see what I’ve been missing!”
“And in the process, losing what you’ve been getting every day!” I said, “Reminds me of my two ancestors!”
“Your ancestors?” asked the squirrel, “Did they also start wearing glasses and find out what they were missing?”
“Not exactly!” I said, “They ate from a tree of knowledge, and lost the beautiful rapport they had with their maker, and looks like you wearing glasses, are also seeing things in a wrong light, while becoming suspicious of the very ones who are your friends!”
The squirrel wearing glasses suddenly removed her glasses and looked at me, “You seem friendly again!” she said.
“And maybe those crumbs you refused to eat could fill your stomach!” I said pleasantly.
I watched the squirrel eating the delicious morsels hungrily, and I smiled as I realized how often trying to rely on my own strength and means I gave up the wonderful reliance that came from the One above.
I smiled again as Mrs Squirrel threw away her glasses and grinned at me, as I also chuckled at the One above..!
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com
