Maybe you’ve noticed that there’s a bunch of milkweed outside my office window.  Some folks have inquired if I wanted it cut down or cut back and I’ve emphatically said no, please don’t!  Because sometimes butterflies decide to hang out for a while, fluttering outside my office window and I just love seeing them.  That happened yesterday.  Seeing a monarch butterfly flying among the milkweed was good for my soul (and Barbara’s too as we watched her together.)  She was flying so excitedly that I wasn’t able to take a picture.  Though she looked happy and free, and that’s always good to see.

Butterflies are Christian symbols—symbols of the Resurrection.  Christ died on the cross, was buried in the tomb, and somehow the mystery of resurrection led to new life and hope for us all.  The butterfly begins life as a crawling caterpillar, hibernates in a cocoon, and emerges to rejoin the world as a soaring butterfly.  There’s a lot to appreciate about the butterfly’s story.

Now, maybe you’re presently feeling like you’re in a wonderful place.
Maybe you’re tired and weary.
Maybe you know change is coming, and it’s going to be scary or painful.
Wherever you are and however you’re feeling, take heart.
For out of change and transformation, something truly miraculous can emerge.

Love,
Pastor Lauren

P.S. I left the church office to grab lunch at the parsonage yesterday and looked out the picture window only to see a butterfly fluttering in the wind once again!  Was it the same one, and she followed me home?!?  Who knows, but it seemed that someone definitely needed to hear the story of the butterfly this week.

(This Week’s Thoughts 7.12.18)