This month, the time immediately following the Resurrection,
we’ll declare it the Butterfly season.
Why Butterflies? First, they are symbols
of tremendous change in a short time frame. A butterfly’s life spans the course of about a
month, which means there’s little time to be idle. There is of course also the “butterfly effect”
where it’s believed if one flaps it’s wing, a hurricane could be created. Let us be inspired to live a new life this
month, during the Butterfly Season.
“We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?” ~ Marianne Williamson
A butterfly lays an egg on a leaf. This simple action does not seem to be
anything particularly fantastic, but it is an action none the less. The egg
rests there, stuck until the conditions are just right. This tiny egg will soon produce something
great that will bring its own unique joy to its surrounding. But what if the butterfly didn’t think so
highly of such a tiny thing? What if it
was laid in the water, where it could be swept way with the current? Or on the soil for the seed to be crushed by
any creature that comes its way? Or even still on a stick or a piece of wood where
the wind could blow it off? It’s the
smallest considerations that make the difference.
How often do we not think of taking care of something so
small? Did we carelessly toss our keys
to the wind when we came in the door, out of sight and mind until it was time
to move our cars again? And what havoc missing
keys can wreck on a schedule! Or what about
that tooth we noticed needed some attention, but put off getting fixed until it
became a big tooth ache? Now instead of
a filling, the tooth must be extracted. Maybe
it is the idea we gave to the wrong person, believe they would take as much
care with it as we would. We so often
places our eggs in places where they could not possibly survive. It’s the smallest considerations that make
the difference.
One man’s presence may not seem to have much of an impact,
at least not at the time, but there are billions of people across the world who
now follow him. More than what Jesus
symbolically meant for so many, the legacy of giving is what he probably wanted
us to remember above anything else. Instead
of splitting hairs of what is to be done right in his name, perhaps we should
worry more about those who would benefit by us living to help those not often
thought of. Matthew 25: 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did
not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” His
life and death was just a tiny seed, placed in a safe environment so that it
could be nurtured and eventually grow into a movement. Listening,
paying attention to and treating well “the least of these” is what makes a difference
in this life.
Consider planting something small egg in a safe place,
either an idea in a journal, $5 dollars in a saving account or a bus card for
someone in need of transportation to a job interview. As we go through this month, watch how this
seed can blossom into something greater.
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