Aggressive Mimicry: a biological & spiritual experience
a biology-inspired analogy about God’s guidance in our lives
In Spring 2024, I sat in my Biology class, learning about all the classes of animals. You may know a few; mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The list develops more detail as it includes molluscs, echinoderms, annelids, and more. As we were learning about molluscs, specifically the snail, I thought of an analogy that I believe only God could have given me. As we discussed a snail to parasite relationship, I could not help but think about how that situation can be compared to spiritual health.
Sam’s Story
Sam the snail is on his daily journey looking for food. He stumbles across some bird poop and eats it. This satisfies his hunger, but Sam does not know that his food contains parasitic eggs. A parasite is defined as an organism that lives in or on an organism of another species (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host’s expense. The parasitic egg hatches in Sam’s body, then grows to be worms. Two worms (let’s name them Mike and Mike Jr.) invade Sam’s eye stalks which contain his eyes at the end of the stalk. Mike and Mike Jr. are now the hosts of Sam’s body and decide where they want to take him next. Sam cannot see because they have consumed his vision.
Mike and Mike Jr.’s goal is to get a bird to eat them so the cycle can continue with another snail. So, they drive Sam’s body to places in high or sunny areas even though Sam would typically like to be somewhere shady and private. Sam is sitting on a tree branch, and a bird sees him as Mike and Mike Jr. shimmy in the sunlight. The bird swooped down to eat Mike and Mike Jr. Now, Sam is left to regenerate his eye stalks so that he can see again. The bird has enjoyed his lunch, and (if he doesn’t die) will poop out some contaminated food for the next snail. Hopefully, it's not Sam.
This process is called aggressive mimicry, which is when an animal or parasite imitates a harmless organism either to eat prey or get itself eaten. In the snail’s case, the worms were working to get eaten by a bird. The ultimate goal of the worms is to spread its parasite far and wide (Balasubramanian 2024). It just wants to continue its life cycle. The scientific name of the parasite is Leucochloridium and the worm that is associated with it is platyhelminthes/helminths.
This is a very sick cycle. For the parasite to take over the snail, then get eaten, just to continue living and start the cycle again??? And I forgot to add– harm and potentially kill the snail in the process.
Now that you have some background info, let’s get to the spiritual things.
This parasitic interaction reminds me of how sin or evil influences people. How it starts in the mind and heart, then translates to behavior, which then leads to negative outcomes.
Verses that I think about in relation to this process:
Luke 6:45 (NKJV) “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” — meaning that whatever is in a person’s heart will reveal itself whether good or bad.
Proverbs 21:2 (NLT) “People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT) “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
Proverbs 16:18 (NLT) “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”
“Where is the connection?”
Think of the parasite as the ways of a person’s heart— pride, stubbornness, covetousness, idolatry, malice, wrath, and all the other things that should be “put to death” according to Colossians 3 (and other related scriptures). These things have the potential to influence the human mind, which directly impacts decision making. Being led simply by feelings, affections, and desires can lead us outside of God’s plan. How can we truly know what God wants to teach us, show us, and do for us if we continuously seek our own ways before His?
Aggressive Mimicry: The Big Picture
Sam (the snail) could not properly control/decide where he went when the parasites were attached to him. Because of this he ended up in an environment that was not the best for him. Remember I said that he preferred shady areas, yet the parasites put him in the sunlight.
I liken sin to the concept of aggressive mimicry because our reasoning for certain things can seem good at the moment but not be good for us in the long run. Sometimes our reasoning and behaviors can be harmful to ourselves or others. Or make sense to us but not be the way that God would like for us to handle a specific situation. Or be outside of God’s will entirely. Hence why scripture says that the heart is deceitful. It can lead us to believe we are going the right way when we are not. This is what is referred to as spiritual blindness. Our ways could lead us to environments, places, friendships or relationships that God did not intend for us to be in.
In so many words, decisions made without God’s guidance can lead to hardship that can be avoided. Ungodly pride can lead to destruction that reflects in the way we treat ourselves, others and God. This destruction can be spiritual and/or physical. There are many accounts in the Bible of people who fell because they chose their ways over God: Eve, King Asa, The Israelites—to name a few. Some of the accounts ended in forgiveness and some ended….not so well. Some ended in death (literal destruction) if you were wondering.
The good news is that redemption is available by way of Jesus Christ. That is what matters! By no means am I condemning anyone. I am still in the learning process as a believer in Christ. I believe I will forever be in that process because there is no person on earth who never sins.
Now back to Sam. After the parasites were removed by the bird eating it, Sam got to regenerate his eyestalks, meaning that he would regain his eyesight. This is what happens when we return to God. We regain our spiritual vision, and are able to realign ourselves with God’s instructions (a.k.a his word).
“How do I return to God?”
Declare your faith and belief in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10).
Through repentance, turning away from sin. This includes receiving forgiveness and living differently moving forward (see Hebrews 8:12 and Revelation 3:19).
Follow Him, daily. (see Proverbs 3:6 and Matthew 16:24)
I would like to clarify that even though God wants to lead us, that does not mean He wants us to be mindless. God wants us to have and gain wisdom. He wants us to have an understanding of His words, ways, and character. He wants to move with wisdom throughout life. See these scriptures:
James 1:5 NLT “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
Proverbs 2:1-11 NLT “My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.”
Proverbs 11:2 NLT “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Call to Action
If you are a believer in Christ, I encourage you to take inventory. Are you actively seeking God’s will for your life? Have you separated yourself from the things that were designed to destroy, distract, or destabilize your life? If you’re not sure, ask God to search you, and He will reveal. I trust that the fruit of this is will be renewal!
If you are not a believer in Christ, I would encourage you to just talk to God. Express your thoughts to Him. He is available and will listen to you. I trust that as you draw near to Him, he will draw near to you. Take this into consideration: Hebrews 4:15-16 “This High Priest (Jesus) of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” His ear, mercy, and grace is available if you reach for it.
sending grace & peace your way,
from me to you
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