By Patrick Coin - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=786690
Five-lined Skink
The five-lined skink, also known as the blue-tailed skink, is a lizard whose habitat ranges from the Gulf States to the mid-Atlantic to the east, all the way to the border of Canada to the north, and to Missouri to the west.
It is a small creature, a little bigger than the palm of one’s hand. Males are slightly bigger than females. They are a gorgeous animal, dark brown or black with five yellow stripes going the length of their slender bodies. Their faces seem to display a perpetual smile. And their tales are a bright blue! And when they are attacked by a predator, like a snake or a hawk or a raccoon or even a domestic cat, they can detach this brilliant part of their selves and then can scurry towards safety.
Sometimes they sacrifice the tail as a decoy to distract a predator from harming newly hatched offspring. The tail will then regenerate, and they can go on living their lives under moss-covered rocks and or the roots of trees.
What do you love about this particular creature?
What do they reveal to you about God and our faith?
Understanding the lives of wild animals, their habitats, food preferences, mating rituals, and day-to-day busyness helps me to embrace the incredible diversity of creation, and the ineffable imagination of God.
In the liminal space, much of our time and energy is spent protecting and clinging to what we consider the most worthy part of ourselves. And this is how we are created. We are meant to protect our lives and to provide safety and nourishment for our children and those God calls us to love. When I have spent time praying and reflecting about this previously unknown-to-me creature of God’s making, I am astounded by the willingness and ability to dispense with what might be the most brilliant and flashy part of themselves: their blue tails!
The skink seems to be asking me, “What valued and cherished part of yourself, what part of your life’s routine, what part of the anatomy of your own ego, might you be called to relinquish for the sake of the fuller life that God has in mind for me?"
Author - The Rt. Rev. Rob Hirschfeld
Rob Hirschfeld is the Tenth Bishop of New Hampshire and spends many hours sculling on the Merrimack River, where, almost daily, he is greeted by great blue herons, cormorants, and bald eagles.
Infinite Creator God, thank you for all the living things you have made. You delight in giving humanity gift upon gift from your imagination and love. Help us to learn wise ways to protect and celebrate your creatures, human, tamed, and wild; that we may share peacefully and completely in your kindness and agape love with all creation. May we be a blessing to all that you have created as we glorify you. Amen.
Prayer by the Rev. Diana Rogers