Mosquitoes as Models for Love

"A little bite won't hurt" - Harry the Mosquito

If there is one insect that many people hate, it must be mosquitoes. I mean, who wouldn’t? They’re annoying and they fly around in places you don’t want them to be. Aside from that, they practically have caused millions of deaths (and increasing) all over the world. Like vampires, they feed on blood and takes pleasure in feasting on innocent animals and human beings. Who knows? Probably in the future we’d all be mosquitoes with thin silk-like wings flying around and hungry for blood. You must admit, we’ve all been preys of this pesky little insect.

I am actually part of the statistics that has already been sick of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (the more advanced and deadly version of Dengue Fever), and I’m telling you, it is not a good feeling. But on the bright side of things, I did feel special and loved when I was confined in the hospital while complaining about my troubled joints, stomach aches, headache, bleeding nose, and paranoid of my dropping platelet count. My parents couldn’t bear to see me suffering like that, not to mention that my fever hit above 40⁰C, had hallucinations of a guy taking a shit on top of our dog cage, and a seizure that panicked everyone in our house (including my dad who apparently carried me like a sack of rice and threw me in the shower – which worked in stopping the seizure by the way). After recovering from Dengue, I felt somehow relieved knowing that I can no longer have it at least for the first two or three strains.

"Just the perfect brew!"

It took me quite a while to reflect on why this illness exists, or rather why mosquitoes exist. Could God have created something that can cause deaths and illnesses to His people? If God so Loved the world and the people living in it, why did He create mosquitoes knowing that it would only bring harm to us?

Neither science nor religion may have an explanation for this query, but somehow I do. Coming up with an analogy that explains a certain phenomenon doesn’t pop out of my head like popcorn inside a microwave. It took me quite a long reflection on this one while looking at the sky and not minding the time.

I realized that mosquitoes probably exist for a reason, a reason that many people may not be able to realize.

Now to the cheesy part

In a way, it’s really nice to know that they exist. It’s also nice to know that they love blood and that it is the only way that they can survive. Mosquitoes loves blood so much that they are not mindful of the dangers they face and that they are willing to offer their lives for it.

Now these small creatures should be a model for us human beings when it comes to love… because the way we love should somehow resemble the love of a mosquito to blood.

Why not?

Whenever a mosquito attempts to extract blood from us human beings, they are aware of the dangers they face. They know that their presence on our skin can trigger an impulse from their victim; hence, there is a big possibility that their victim could swat and kill them. Aside from that, they linger around in areas where humans are more likely to be found (e.g. bedroom, kitchen) and humans would make use of every given opportunity to use anti-mosquito sprays to kill them, thus putting an end to their lives.

You see what I mean?

In some cases (like my mom for instance), people would actually chase down a mosquito and wouldn’t stop until he/she sees this tiny little bug blood dead in the palm. Nevertheless, this doesn't stop any mosquito from doing what they love to do, which is to find a pray, extract blood and fly away – as simple as that.¹

Love is in the air
... literally.

Now our love should be like the love of mosquitoes to blood. Real love is supposed to be like that... we must be willing to offer our lives for it. Yes, just as mosquitoes are willing to do so for blood.

As I’ve said in one of my previous blog entries "How Everything Can Be Related to Love", everything around us can somehow indeed be related to love (hence, the title). It is just a matter of time and reflection that we get to appreciate the value of things such as the existence of mosquitoes.

Maybe this is the reason why God created such beings. Probably mosquitoes are there as God's way of teaching us a lesson on what love should be like, an unconditional one, the kind of love wherein a person having it could actually offer his life as a sacrifice for the well-being of another, the kind of love perfect for every person, the kind of love that we're supposed to have.

I dare say that if every single person just acted like mosquitoes, the world WOULD be a better place to live in.

¹ I do NOT wish to question the philosophical fact that only human beings are the only creatures that has rationality. This entry is just an analogy on the purpose of the existence of mosquitoes and it does not in any way impose any form of objectivity, as this is a very subjective analysis by the author – which is me.