Gastropods

My only real serious contact with a gastropod has been in a restaurant. My parents used to dress us up occasionally and take us to a gourmet supper club in Chicago called "The Whitehall". Mental snapshots come to mind of crisp linen tablecloths, waiters with white towels draped over their forearms, and me, a 10-year-old, confidently ordering Escargots a la Bourguignonne. Outside of snails floating in butter and garlic, I never have given them much thought.

In fact, before I read The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, I might have stepped on this little slug, making its way s-l-o-w-l-y down my driveway on a carpet of slime. But after devouring this little book about the lowly gastropod, I was thoroughly enchanted.

Some little-known facts:

• They have 2,640 teeth, 80 rows of 33 teeth per row, which regenerate every 6-8 weeks!
• Their tentacles are equipped with eyes that retract. (so sci-fi!)
• They live in silence. They have no ears. They 'hear' with their eyes.
• Their slime is their 'soul' and the medium for all things gastropod--locomotion, courting, mating, protection.

And, it goes without saying, they are s...l...o...w... In fact, the reason the author became such an expert on snails is that her own life slowed down almost to a complete halt when she was diagnosed in her early 30's with a rare disease that left her bedridden for years. Her main source of distraction was observing a small snail that one of her visitors had planted on some violets that she brought for her.

When I think what I was doing in my 20's and 30's, the mental snapshots come back a little blurry. My pace was the speed of light--rushing from one thing to the next, priding myself on multitasking-to-the-max. The thought of being bedridden, content with watching snails slime their way up a leaf just doesn't compute.

Slowness is so contrary to my nature--if anything is worth doing, it's worth doing FAST. And yet, from God's point of view, slowness is not a negative attribute. In fact, we 'hear' God best when we slow ourselves down and listen for that almost undetectable sound of Him moving through our thoughts, our memories, and our dreams.

I regard snails, even slugs, with a little more respect now. (But that falls short of promising never to eat Escargots a la Bourguignonne again.)

"The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:7