The Butterfly

Joy pours from you as you flutter past my wondering gaze. Each gentle movement of those delicate wings is a hymn to freedom and to grace. In the short span of your life you bring delight and wonder – wonder at the breathtaking beauty of your form – wonder at the perfect symmetry that shines through all creation.

Oh might I for one brief hour, experience your freedom; that I might choose to soar on the breeze, alight on any flower, sup nectar from the blossom, express my thanks to my creator by merely being myself. No concern about the state of the world. No fear about what others might think. To be, to give freely to all without considering who is more deserving; to say, “Come fly with me and be free!” No matter that my span is brief; of what use is time if one spends so much of it in fear? Fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of change, fear of boredom, fear of rejection.

You tell me that each has his part to play in the grand opera that is our life here. Let me learn to play that part to the full. Teach me to recognise that I am who I am meant to be, where I am meant to be, with whom I am meant to be and having all that I need to play my part to perfection. Teach me to accept this moment as the only true reality in this world of illusions. The moment, that fully exploited, will bring in its train, the satisfaction of achievement, the reassurance of self-knowledge, the inner peace of surrender to true reality and the joy of release; release of the spirit from its self-imposed prison.

Time is meaningless in your world and in your brief period with us you do more for the happiness of others than many of us achieve in years of pointless posturing, as we try to be what we think others expect. I am sure that when you pass from our world you merely soar into heaven; there to bless the gardens with your beauty and your delight in being you. As the rainbow fulfils God’s promise to Noah never to destroy the world with a flood; the dawn His promise that a new day brings to each of us a fresh start; so you fulfil His promise that beauty and love are free and for the enjoyment of all.

God, let us not be so consumed by our own petty concerns and fears, that we forget to smell the flowers, welcome the gentle rain, watch with wonder the butterfly, or to thank You for all Your love has so generously placed before us for our sustenance and enjoyment.