BUTTERFLIES IN THE SNOW

 

I was surfing the internet this morning…and among the stories in a world of woe…

there on the page before me…someone posted a picture of a butterfly in the snow.

And I thought as I sat there hoping somehow…our leaders…peace into our life would bring…this butterfly is also hoping…that winter will turn to spring 

And I started thinking about nature and her beautifully varied kaleidoscope 

of examples she sets before us…to remind us there is hope.

A little starling flying against the wind…a rainbow stretched across the sky…

flowers growing up through stones, the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

An acorn hoping to become a tree…should evoke in us hope’s power

Sea turtles racing to the sea…a new sprout about to flower.

A bird singing in the darkness…hoping for the sun and the start of a brand new day

An new-born baby’s hopeful cry….opening presents on Christmas Day

We all know the name Pandora…in one story of Greek Mythology she’s the star…

the woman who unleashed evil into the world…by opening a jar.

(Yes it was a jar the original Greek mythologists created….

but somewhere in the 16th century the word was mis-translated!)

When Pandora realized what she’d done…realized the world would be forever stained…she quickly shut the jar…where inside only Elpis, the goddess of hope, remained.

The ancient Greek mythologists used this story to remind us in a world where it’s hard to cope…to remember, just like Pandora, we always carry hope.

So when my hope begins to fade…when I think evil has progressed too far…

I remember Elipis, the goddess of hope, who Pandora’s carried in her jar.

And on other days when the news is bad…and I’m feeling la little low….

I’ll think of birds who sing in the darkness…and butterflies in the snow.