Why I collect Octopuses

For those of you who don't know, I collect octopuses. Why? It isn't a popular thing to collect, and that may be part of the reason why I do it, but it isn't the whole reason.

The more I learn about these fascinating creatures, the more I want to be like them. There are the obvious 8 limbs that would come in handy when taking care of my kids, but there is so much more than that.

There are actually 3 accepted plural forms of the word octopus: octopuses, which is the most common form, octopodes, which a rare form, and apparently blogger's spell check doesn't like it, and octopi, which is often rejected because the origin of the word is actually Greek, not Latin. Why do I point this out? People tend to correct me when I say octopuses, and I just wanted to point out this little bit of knowledge.

One thing that I admire about octopuses is their superior flexibility. They don't actually have any bones, and the only hard part on their bodies is their beak. Did you know that octopuses have a beak? Still, even with this hard part, they still have the ability to squish their bodies into some strange places. This picture to the right is a picture of an octopus squeezing through a crack to escape from it's aquarium.

Why is flexiblity an admirable trait? Why do we watch contortionists? Why do we admire superheroes like Mr. Incredible? No, I am not saying that I want to be able to fit through cracks or bend my body into strange positions. I just want my attitude to be flexible. I don't ever want to be a person who is so rigid about doing things my way, that I can't adjust. This is especially true in worship. I always want to worship God, the one and only Creator of the universe, and on this I am not flexible, that would be my beak, or maybe the whole body. My worship can take many shapes, though, even if I am stretched and squished. Paul talks about being flexible as well:

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. " 1Corinthians 9:19-23

Now, Octopuses are by no means weak. This video is not for the squeamish by the way.

Octopuses are obviously very powerful creatures. They are deceptively powerful, though. The scientists didn't know until they saw it happen that it was the octopus taking out the sharks. I don't want to go around killing things, but I do have power. My power is not in my own strength, however. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That makes me very powerful, but only through Christ. That power is not visible unless He wants it to be, but it is still more powerful than anything else.

Another thing about the octopus is that they are extremely intelligent. Their problem-solving skills are very good, especially since they have short life-spans, so the benefit of experience is not a factor. They have been seen practicing observational learning, and they have both short and long-term memory. This is pretty obvious why I would want to be like them.

Octopuses also have been known to play. This video is of an octopus who was given a toy to play with. She apparently likes it. I have also seen octopuses playing with legos.

Obviously play is very important to me. If you have met my husband, you would know that. My large child has a bigger toy collection than his kids. A sense of humor is essential in my house, and I firmly believe that God has a sense of humor as well. He created us to learn well by playing. When you observe toddlers, you see this quite often. They explore and play with everything in reach. All the while learning and growing. Play has to be important to God as well.

So that's it. Well, I could probably think of more, but I have to go pick up Becca. Aren't octopuses awesome?