Butterflies

MY BUTTERFLY COLLECTION

by Sharon

I use the word collection loosely. I do not have a literal collection as I would never kill and mount a beautiful butterfly. The collection I have is etched in my memory and in my heart. It began with my early childhood days when I lived on a farm. Each spring when the fields became green and colorful with wildflowers, I would venture out to see the flocks of tiny yellow butterflies in their fairy-like aerial dance, or chase a multicolored monarch as he flitted over the bushes, or the petite blues gathered around a pool of water left by a the spring rain. They were beautiful, wonderful creatures many and varied. One species is the Swallowtail. Zebra swallowtails are named for their zebra-like black and white stripes. The Western Tiger Swallowtail is magnificently cat-like in color, and imagine, if you will, a flock of Rocky Mountain Orange Tips in flight, so much color in motion can take your breath away. These are only a few of the thousands of species of butterflies in North America.

I imagine that butterflies are like people, some are large and colorful, and some are small and delicate. Like the lacy, pastel wings of the gossamer butterfly, some are beautiful, and some are plain, but all are very special in the eyes of God, who created all things to be pleasing to us and to him. Sometimes just as the butterflies, we need to emerge from our chrysalis and become the person God has intended us to be.

When I go out today, I have almost ceased to look for butterflies because they are no longer so easily seen. It seems that progress has driven them far away or perhaps destroyed their source of food or their habitat. It makes me wonder, will our children’s children have a chance to observe a flock of butterflies in flight? If even for an instant, that’s all it takes to build a dream, a happy retreat into the imagination, an imprint on the mind that will remain a lifetime.

I could have a walnut frame with blue velvet background and beautiful butterflies preserved and perfectly arranged, but I could never capture the beauty in motion they possessed in life, floating on the wind, wild and free, capturing the fancy of all who behold them. They give me a dream of beauty, not unlike my friends, every one unique. I would not capture or change them. Each and every one is a work of art, straight from heavenly places. Each one has made an imprint on my heart that will stay with me forever. My life is changed and shaped with every new contact I make.