The Little Foxes

There is a Scripture that says that it is the little foxes that destroy the vines. In other words, we prepare for the big things in life, perhaps keep ourselves from the big vices, but then the small vices do us in.

We build walls around our personalities to try to protect ourselves from the major risks and hurts so easily encountered in life. But our walls are not perfect. The small foxes burrow under the wall. Others squeese between small cravices in the wall because our walls and our protections are not perfect. Some enterprising foxes are astounding jumpers and they jump on top of the wall. They run along the wall and then leap inside the vineyard of our life ready to eat the young and tender shoots of our lives.

The small foxes are not cute, they are not benign or altruistic. They have one intent and one intent only-that is to satisfy their own needs at the expense of ourselves and our families.

The nature of evil sometimes is to be big and direct. But it is just as likely to come to us in the form of the small foxes that eat the vines. Most of us can deal with one fox. But the foxes of evil come in bulk. There are a number of them, not just one. Since each is just a small vice or problem, they are more difficult to deal with.

I think that in Scripture, the small foxes are sometimes viewed as weeds that choke off the beautiful fruit that God has for us. Jesus saw an evil person (Satan) sowing tares among the wheat. The tares can not be rooted out without harming the wheat. They exist through out our life. But someday the tares will be dealt with.

However, the little foxes we can get rid of. We have to hunt them down one by blasted one and then kill them and throw them out of the gardens of our lives.

Now in Ozarlandia, we have no little need of foxes. We have racoons instead. And yes, they are little robbers. You can tell them by the masks that they wear. Now coons look nice-but they are not. They are nasty little animals that will burrow into your house and live in your walls and roof. They do not leave-under any circumstances. They may step out for a drink or a midnight snack but they and their family will come and live with you. They do not go away. The only way you get coons out is that you set traps for them in your attic or you go in and force them out.

Once the coons are out, you have to repair your attic or another set or two move back in. They, of course, invite their friends.Then you do it all over again.

You take care of the problem once and for all. It is like a child that gets head lice. You deal with all of them. You don’t take nine tenths of them out and leave one tenth. Folks, that does not work.

The same thing is true of vice. You do not throw most of it out and keep a little piece for yourself. That little piece will grow again. And it invites its friends.

I keep a wood racoon carving on the wall of our house. It reminds me that racoons are not precious little animals. They are like the small foxes that destroy the vines. You get rid of them-all of them.

HarleyDad and Brokerbelle are at Big Cedar Resort this weekend. Like Scrooge’s three ghosts, my racoons have come to me in a group of three tonight. One is a carving; one is in the hall and one is in our room. All of them are dead , or at least I think they are.

HarleyDad, Coonhunter.