The Webs We Weave

 I was recently watching the 1973 animated version of Charlotte's Web with my kids.  Charlotte's Web is a timeless, beloved children's classic.  It has always been a favorite of mine.  My son is in a class that is all about Charlotte's Web!  Since he started this class and often talks to me about it, I've been reminded of its profound, yet simple morals.  This story is most charming and delightful in its telling as Charlotte, a grey spider, saves a pig's life.  

I think it's by careful design that E. B. White used these two unlikely creatures to tell a story so kind and tender.  A grey spider is not usually a desirable creature.  Not a creature associated with warm fuzziness, or tenderness.  However, this arachnid is very industrious and good at survival.  Its nature is beautiful and interesting despite outside appearance and maybe some inside venom.  Not a creature we associate with saving or preserving life, except its own and its eggs.  In its own way it saves life by eating certain bugs that prey on other bugs, or bugs that are pests to plants.  Spiders are an integral part of their ecosystems.  

Why a pig?  An animal we don't usually associate with greatness or grandeur.  It's not a beautiful animal and not one we tenderly dote on.  No........we eat them! Maybe there are a few special pig lovers out there who keep them as pets, but in general they are not seen as greatly valuable for anything other than their meat.  Despite this, pigs are very intelligent creatures and have a very curious existence.  They don't mind messy and stinky and perhaps flies could be considered their closest friend.  In what world would a spider and a pig be close friends?  Only in the world of E. B. White do these creatures exist to teach us a most valuable lesson!

A pig, a likely animal to be in fear of losing its life, becomes the object of Charlotte's mission, her life's purpose other than her egg sac.  She says, "what's a life anyway? We're born, we live a little while, and we die..........by helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle.  Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."  Charlotte recognizes the life cycle in a very general sense, but has a desire to rise above it, to seek more purpose, and to make life more meaningful.   For Wilbur.......well.....he wants to be loved for who he is.  "It's not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer!"  

In the beginning Wilbur is a runt piglet that no one wants, who is first saved by a little girl named Fern.  She takes pity on him and raises him like a pet, but her efforts can't save him from an eminent death. He must show his value to the farmer is beyond bacon.  No one sees Wilbur's value except Fern, until a bug points out his worth.  Charlotte is a smart bug, maybe too smart........."If I can fool a bug, I can surely fool a man.  People are not as smart as bugs."  Wilbur and Charlotte become friends.  When Charlotte finds out of the eventual and very final future Wilbur faces she decides she can do something.  What could a little grey spider do?  She spins a Web with a word, or a few.  It takes her all night long to express her thought of Wilbur in one or two words.  It's a sacrifice for her, but she weighs it's value and decides it's worth it.  In her humble corners she weaves the words "SOME PIG, TERRIFIC, HUMBLE, RADIANT"!  Its interesting that no one seems to wonder too much about the people fooling spider behind the miracles.  After those words are planted in the minds of the people, they start to see the pig as TERRIFIC AND HUMBLE AND RADIANT!   They start to see things they didn't think existed in a pig.  If not for the clever seeds Charlotte planted, Wilbur would have met his demise and we would have no great story.  

Charlotte enlists the help of a dirty, grouchy, raunchy, old rat to find the right words and their spelling.  Why a rat, he is of the most vile of creatures?  Well, he has skills at digging in the garbage where paper with words could be found.  Templeton does not really care too much for Wilbur or whether he lives or dies.  Life ends for everyone eventually!  He's only interested in his next meal.  He thinks the world owes him a fair ground full of trashy, half eaten food! He grudgingly agrees to help her if he gets something out of it.  Because Charlotte sees value in him that he doesn't even see himself, she shows kindness and care to the old rat.  She rewards him for his efforts, which results in a more agreeable rat.  It's only toward the end of the Book or movie that Templeton starts to understand, the importance of her great work and the value of Wilbur's life.  Both Charlotte and Wilbur chastise him a bit to get him there, but deep down I think he slowly gets there.  

Why did the author use these lowly animals to tell a great story?  Maybe to be more relatable to us?  Maybe to drive the point that every single creature has worth, that no matter who we are or what we've done, we have value.  Also with that same sentiment, not only are we of great worth, but we have great power to lift others, maybe even save their life!  This teaches that our lives can be made full when we help others see their value.  The profound morals of this story hit me so hard the last few weeks!  I've always been familiar with this story.  I've read it, grew up watching the old cartoon over and over, and I remember when the live action version came out and just had to go see it!  I guess the greatness of this story really sank in as I've seen my son really grow to love it and seeing how it's affected him.  

Words have power, they can hurt and harm, however they are not violence.  They maybe can lead to violence, but that is up to us individually.  Words can lift and comfort, they can bring peace, they can reassure, they can love.  Sometimes our words can get us into trouble..........."oh the tangled webs we weave" sometimes through lies or gossip, or judgement.  I'm sure we've all heard that before and I'm sure we have all been guilty of these once or twice........or more.......or daily, haha!  I'm no expert on how to NEVER weave a tangled web, maybe on how to untangle them, haha!  I've made my fair share of mistakes and am willing to own up to them.  

I've learned a lot in past years about conversing with people through social media.  I've had my ups and downs and made mistakes.  On social media, words become this bludgeoning tool we use to beat others into submission.  Why is it so easy to do that?  Why is it so easy to insult and berate?  I suppose because we don't see their faces or emotions.  Brazenness comes easy because no one will punch our lights out for anything we say, there are no immediate consequences.  We are in a safe place, hiding behind our computer or phone.  It's always easy to say things to people through writing letters or on social media.  Social media has dehumanized us in some way.  We have been shrunken down to a little name on a screen.  We forget there is an actual person and a whole life with roots we never see behind that name.

Oh, but there are consequences when we wake up to our humanness again.  I'm sure we've all felt guilt for things we've said at one time or another.  How about in person?  Our words seem to carry more weight in person.  If someone tells you they love you online is it the same as them saying it to your face?  I think our words mean more, good or bad, in person.  In person, we usually think twice about our words before putting them out there.  In recent years I've made a goal and concerted effort to only post positive things on social media and to lead with gentleness and kindness when addressing people online.  If I disagree with someone or they disagree with me, I make a point to very respectfully address it.  I make an effort to really try to understand their side.  I've never believed in the notion that "if someone disagrees with me, they are my enemy, or I must hate them."  I can see times where I've struggled to understand them, but I've never hated anyone.  There may be a few out there that would not believe me when I say that, but all I can offer are my apologies and if that's not enough, well, I can't help that I suppose.  This leads me to a slight detour.........

Is saying sorry enough?  I've heard my husband and kids say "sorry doesn't cut it"  on a few occasions and at first I just thought "okay, it's just a saying, they're frustrated", but then I got tired of hearing that!  I told my husband, "you better hope that sorry is enough because one day you might hurt someone and all you can do is say sorry.  No, that won't take away their pain or heartache, but it's the best you can do to begin reparations."  It's true "sorry" doesn't usually change what's been done or miraculously take away pain, but it's a start, and remorse matters.  So,  I've had to correct that misconception in my house.  Saying sorry does matter, serving someone does matter, and changing for the better does matter.  Now if someone can't forgive, that's on them, but that also takes time and can be really hard.

In recent years I've tried, even prayed to see others as God sees them.  I've tried to look for ways I can compliment others and lift them.  If I have a positive thought about someone, I try not to let it pass by, but to tell them.  Instead of being brazen in our negative thoughts, let's be brazen in our positive ones!  I would challenge you to find good qualities in people and then tell them!  

Charlotte spent a lot of time and effort to lift Wilbur and although she could see all the qualities those words describe in Wilbur, it took longer to open the eyes of the people enough so they would not take his life.  It's interesting that the people began to see the "SOME PIG, HUMBLE, RADIANT, AND TERRIFIC", in Wilbur the pig, but they did not pay much attention to Charlotte.  They call her work a miracle, but no one goes to find her, or tries to watch her, or is even there when she dies.  What does this teach us?  When we are there to lift others, even in a miraculous way, it is not about us, it's about them.  We don't genuinely do nice things for others only to make ourselves look good.  "Nobody, of the hundreds of people that had visited the fair, knew that a grey spider had played the most important part of all.  No one was with her when she died."

"A spiders web is stronger than it looks, although it is made of thin delicate strands, the web is not easily broken."  And so it is with our words, they are not so easily broken.  They can be for good or bad, you decide.  Charlotte completed her mission to make her masterpiece egg sac which was her lasting legacy for the world.  By lifting herself above her natural purpose and finding more purpose in life, she saved a life.  For a time, she was the world to Wilbur.  Wilbur was extremely sad when he had to say goodbye to his dear friend, but part of her legacy stayed with him in the form of a few of Charlotte's offspring, though "they never quite took her place", they brought him joy!  We are all fellow travelers on this journey called life and it's our duty to help each other out.

Why did Charlotte help Wilbur?  Well, they became friends and she saw how utterly distraught he was about dying.  Did she know for sure that her efforts would save him?  No.  Did she write something she did not believe? No.  The fact that she truly believed those things about Wilbur boosted Wilbur's self esteem and confidence.  Soon enough he started to believe them too.  When he believed in himself others started to believe it.  "Trust me Wilbur, people are very gullible.  They'll believe anything they see in print."

Let's make more of an effort to rise above our own natural life to lift others, to bring more purpose to our own lives.  What words are hanging in the corners of your mind about others, or about yourself?  Are the words woven with strong spider web, or flimsy cob web?  I hope that the negativity might be a tangle of cob webs that we can crumple in our hand and through aside.  I hope the positivity is an organized, beautiful piece of art, a masterpiece that we can be happy to hang above any doorway of our mind.  I would hope it would be worthy of sharing with others only to lift them.  

Our Heavenly Father believes each and everyone of us is a masterpiece, created in His image.  Let us go forward and add to His "greatest work"..........Let us be the ones to shine light on God's great masterpieces so that others may see it too.  Let us rejoice in the worth of souls and find gratitude in the power to do so!