{"id":24077,"date":"2025-07-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=24077"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:29:19","slug":"brother-worm-and-sister-wasp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2025\/07\/10\/brother-worm-and-sister-wasp\/","title":{"rendered":"Brother worm and sister wasp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Near the house where I lived as a child, there was a massive oak we called the Firefly Tree. It stood solitary in the middle of a tobacco field, and every summer attracted apocalyptic numbers of fireflies. Even from a distance, the whole tree glowed and pulsed like a disco party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decades later, and hundreds of miles away, I keep hoping the fireflies will choose a tree near me as their party site, but it hasn\u2019t happened yet and probably never will. Our firefly populations are dwindling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fireflies exist all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica, and thrive especially in tropical regions. Of the over 2,000 different species <\/a> that exist globally, some are at risk. Several of the over 120 firefly species in the United States have been designated<\/a> as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. The Common Eastern Firefly\u2014the type most likely to be seen in my area\u2014is not at risk, but we still don\u2019t see as many as we used to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Mike Lewinski from Tres Piedras, NM, United States, on Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some who are concerned about pressures on fireflies and other species have chosen to rewild areas of their property, or forego pesticides. Yet as with any other ecological threat, it\u2019s hard for individual efforts to make much of an inroad against corporate-backed industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, as the Trump administration eliminates environmental protections<\/a> and opens public lands for drilling<\/a>, it will be even harder to protect at-risk species. I\u2019d like to think that the loss of fireflies would change people\u2019s minds, but I\u2019m not naive enough to believe that a movement that has been fine with horrific attacks on immigrant families, including on pregnant women<\/a> and sick children<\/a>, will be deterred by threats to a tiny insect, no matter how lovable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, fireflies do seem perfect emissaries for the insect population. They don\u2019t bite or sting, they don\u2019t smell funny, all they do is take to the air and shine. Even people who generally dislike bugs find them enchanting. I\u2019m reminded of Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em>, telling Jem: \u201cMockingbirds don\u2019t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.\u201d And then he says the line from which the book takes its title: \u201cShoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit \u2019em, but remember it\u2019s a sin to kill a mockingbird.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was about seven, I encountered a kid who thought it amusing to smash the fireflies and rub the guts on his jeans to make them glow. My inclination at that age was to resolve disputes via violence, so I tackled the kid and pummeled him a bit, to teach him a lesson. I guess I figured it was a sin to kill a firefly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But mockingbirds don\u2019t sing as a favor to humans, and fireflies aren\u2019t putting on light shows for our benefit. They live their own lives, communicating with one another, establishing relationships and connections that have nothing to do with us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Rhododendrites<\/a> on Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been pondering this as I consider how many Trump supporters I know claim to be nature lovers. I know organic growers, farmers\u2019 market managers, folks who love hiking and kayaking and exploring our national parks, who continue to support this administration despite its assaults on the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe some of them are convinced, thanks to well-funded propaganda campaigns, that the administration is not doing the things it is doing. But it\u2019s also a fact that our modern western approach to nature is fundamentally exploitative. We value nature for what we can get out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that makes our affection for the natural world conditional. No matter how much we enjoy hiking in parks or watching fireflies, we\u2019ll easily sacrifice a nature preserve for something that gives us even more pleasure: maybe the wealth derived from leasing to an oil company. Maybe the security of keeping one\u2019s social capital by refusing to rock the boat.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an issue in Christian culture, going back to interpretations of the second creation myth in Genesis. God, according to these interpretations, made the world exclusively for humanity\u2019s benefit. This theological idea has offered repeated justifications for the harm human beings have done to other living things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason I appreciate the Christian doctrine of original sin is that it serves as a framework for thinking about our broken relationship with nature, which is a factor even in our supposed love of living things. We want to bathe in forests and get in touch with our inner wildness and recharge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But maybe, sometimes, the best way we can love the natural world is to leave it alone. Having trampled so many ecosystems, why do we assume we still get to turn to them for solace? It seems like an abusive relationship, in which someone berates and demeans their partner then expects them to offer intimacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our relationships with nonhuman animals really do shape how we treat other humans. Women have noted that you can tell a lot about a man from the way he treats domesticated animals. Does he feel entitled to their affection and get angry when they don\u2019t give it? Does he violate their boundaries? Does he train dogs or horses by means of intimidation? Does he resent cats because of their independence? These are all red flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Terry Priest<\/a> at Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to propose that Christians spend some time reflecting on Genesis\u2019 other creation myth: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. <\/em>In this version, the cosmos is created and unfolds out of chaos, harmonious and sublime, and even though no humans are in it yet, God calls it \u201cgood.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea that we should be more respectful of nature\u2019s boundaries is complicated by the fact that we are also part of nature and that, having disrupted it, it\u2019s on us to try to restore balance. Also, not everyone is equally complicit in the harm done to nature, and many are victims of that same violence inflicted on ecosystems. Many of us are closer to the fireflies than we are to the billionaires, something St. Francis realized, maybe, when he spoke of living things as his brothers and sisters. But it\u2019s not just the fireflies we\u2019re connected to. We\u2019re connected to the creatures we find strange and unappealing, too\u2014the ones that fail to delight us or sing for us or put on light shows. We\u2019re connected with the worms and the wasps, also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s good to appreciate the song of the mockingbird or the sight of a tree lit up with fireflies. But this doesn\u2019t mean we should treat nature as something created exclusively for our benefit. And we need to be ready to defend species even when they don\u2019t delight us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s a sin to kill a bluejay, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At messyjesusbusiness.com<\/a> you can read more by this author<\/a> and more about our relationship with the natural world.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Rebecca Bratten Weiss is a writer and academic residing in rural Ohio. She is the digital editor for U.S. Catholic magazine and can be found at\u00a0rebeccabrattenweiss.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Near the house where I lived as a child, there was a massive oak we called the Firefly Tree. It stood solitary in the middle of a tobacco field, and every summer attracted apocalyptic numbers of fireflies. Even from a distance, the whole tree glowed and pulsed like a disco party.  Decades later, and hundreds...","protected":false},"author":149585916,"featured_media":24079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698755597],"tags":[698756884,26143,184,698756886,698756885,49054,48441,4363,1099,698756811],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-24077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-care-for-the-earth","tag-care-for-the-earth","tag-creation","tag-environment","tag-environmental-protections","tag-fireflies","tag-genesis","tag-immigrants","tag-immigration","tag-nature","tag-rebecca-brattea-weiss","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rebecca-fireflies.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Brother worm and sister wasp<\/a><\/blockquote>