"Safe Harbor's" Daily Inspiration

"For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed

with corruptible things, as silver and gold,

from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ,

as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

1Peter 1:18,19

Dearer Than Life

In the forests of Northern Europe lives the ermine,

a small animal known best for its snow white fur.

Instinctively, this animal protects its glossy coat of fur

with great care lest it become soiled.

Hunters often capitalize on this trait.

Instead of setting a mechanical trap to catch the ermine,

they find its home in a cleft of a rock or a hollow tree

and daub the entrance and the interior with tar.

Then their dogs start the chase,

and the frightened ermine flees toward its home.

But finding it covered with dirt,

he spurns his place of safety.

Rather than soil his white fur,

he courageously faces the yelping dogs who hold him at bay

until the hunters capture him.

To the ermine,

purity is dearer than life!

The Lord wants us to be a people who will keep ourselves

"unspotted from the world."