Kaleidoscope of butterflies

March 31, 2020

  Yesterday on my morning walk I noticed a butterfly flitting across the road. I turned to look at where it had come from and discovered a bush bursting with blooms. Suddenly I was swarmed by butterflies, at least twenty or thirty flew out of the bush, around my head and across the street. 

  Did you know that a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope? Imagine in your mind a kaleidoscope of butterflies. If that doesn’t bring a smile to your face I don’t know what will.

  Since that encounter I’ve been thinking that while we, humanity, are focused on a virus, the rest of earth’s inhabitants have been going on as usual. Perhaps the creatures in the cities are appreciating the cleaner air. Perhaps the wildlife in our parks are enjoying fewer human visitors. But otherwise, in the spring in the northern hemisphere, as the earth warms, plants are sprouting, flowers are blooming and butterflies are migrating.

Romans 8:17-22

Romans 8 – 2020

With sighs too deep for words

We wait

We groan

The whole creation groans

Throughout the world

All are touched

All suffer together

Groaning in labor pains

We wait

We pray

With sighs too deep for words

Trusting the Spirit intercedes

AM Walk - Poem

AM Walk

March 24, 2020

Thankful for each step

Right foot

Left foot

Achy knees that still work

Bringing me outside

Thankful for the cool, damp breeze upon my face

And the soft jacket that keeps me warm

For shoes and socks and puddles

For this flower, right here, right now

Bright yellow orange bursting out on a thousand petals

Within the space of a robin’s egg

Thankful for the birds that sing

Each voice unique

The little sparrow perched on a for sale sign

The loud demanding crow upon the housetop

The soft coo of an unseen friend

The more the listening the more the different voices

All joined in praise

For the day, for the grey clouds, for last night’s rain

There is a calmness

A peace in the stillness

Strolling through the park

By a wonderful playground

That is empty

Jacob was alone

  Jacob was left alone; 

and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 

When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, 

he struck him on the hip socket; 

and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 

Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ 

But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ 

So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ 

And he said, ‘Jacob.’ 

Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, 

for you have striven with God and with humans, 

and have prevailed.’  

Genesis 32:24-28

As we are left alone, we all struggle with something, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. The story of Jacob encourages us to hold on, continue to wrestle, and seek out the blessings which can only be found through confronting the pain. We, individually, as a country and as a world community, will be different when we have prevailed against this virus. What that will look like will depend upon what blessings we have gathered.