Finding Spirituality in a Praying Mantis

I was relieved as I continued to read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek because I found the book a lot more enjoyable. Instead of reading about the giant water bug vaporizing a frog and the bloody tomcat, the reading was more about the magnificence and pleasantness that nature can provide for the viewer. One way that ‘spiritual’ is defined according to the Merriam-Webster online Dictionary is “of or relating to sacred matters,” (“Spiritual,” 2008). The more I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek the more I find that Dillard is a very unique individual who sees nature for more than what meets the eye. I can’t say for sure what she gets out of nature, but it is one of the most important things in her life, if not the most important. It is almost as if she worships nature and she would not survive without it. Dillard thinks very highly of praying mantises and was delighted when she learned how to see the mantis egg casing. She goes onto tell how she watched egg-laying for over an hour one day and “later in spring I climbed the hill every day, hoping to catch the hatch,” (Dillard, 1999, p 59). Dillard was so amazed with these mantises that she did not want to miss the hatching of the egg. To me this is amazing sacrifice and commitment. It is wonderful how she devoted so much time to these praying mantises every day hoping to catch the new birth. I think this is true spirituality because it seemed so sacred, so significant to her. Not to get into a religious debate or anything but some Christians go there entire lives and only spend time in a church for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. This is her church; this is what she is devoted to. This is where she goes to worship. I’m not saying she is worshiping a praying mantis, but she adores something in nature that can never be fully understood just by reading a book. She really started to capture my emotions when I went on to read that the egg casing that she was so loyal to, ended up being destroyed by a tractor, although she does not seem sad about it, I can almost feel a small sense of her pain. Dillard did not give up there; she simply cut three undamaged mantises cases, brought them home and placed them in the sun.

Reference

spiritual. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved September 7, 2008, from http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/spiritual