LIKE BUTTERFLIES

I am grateful for understanding how our children 

are like the tiny butterflies…that land in our hands for us to hold…

and grateful I’ve been around…

to see the moment their wings unfold.

 

SHARING WINGS

 

May we be blessed

whenever we see someone afraid of falling…

afraid of what that fall might bring…

that we put them on our shoulders

and share with them…our wings…

And equally blessed when we are afraid of falling

afraid of what that fall might bring

that someone will put us on their shoulders

and share with us…their wings.

A RIDE WITH A CATERPILLAR

 

Yesterday while driving to meet my daughter and attend a Lacrosse game 

I noticed a caterpillar on my shoulder…

I’m not sure where she came from…but I have a feeling as to why…

She was there to remind me of all there is to learn from our friend…the butterfly.

And as I watched her quietly crawling on me

thinking how one day…she will reach for the sky

I was mesmerized thinking of the silent beauty…that is the butterfly.

While we made this trip together…her presence made me reminisce…

how just like her we humans are in a state of metamorphosis.

How like this tiny caterpillar…we are all a fragile sort…

How we need to make each moment special…because our time on Earth is short.

How our life is always changing…

how we must be patient with what each change brings

patient and resilient…if we are ever to grow our wings.

How once our wings have formed…it might take more than just one try

before we find the courage…the skill, the fortitude…and the confidence to fly.

And how once we learn to fly we're in for a wonderful surprise…

we get to share the entire world with a host of different butterflies. 

When I arrived at the Lacrosse field…

I thanked the caterpillar for a moment I was glad I didn’t miss…

then gently set her down on a big green leaf 

so she could continue her metamorphosis.

When I walked into the stands to sit…I couldn’t believe my eyes…

for everywhere I looked I was surrounded by butterflies…

A diverse and beautiful group of Butterflies…butterflies just like me…

all sizes, ages, shapes and colors…in different phases of their metamorphoses 

It’s funny all the other people seated next to me…

saw only a lacrosse game on that field through their eyes…

but because of a car ride with caterpillar…

I was happily sitting…in a field of butterflies.

DAILHY GRATITUDE HUMANITY

 

I am grateful for those humans out there (and there are a lot of you)

who don’t make the daily news

whose kindness often goes unseen…

who are loving, compassionate and accepting

In a world where some have forgotten what being human means.

HUMANITY

 

May we be blessed to remember…

When deciding the kind of human we want to be

That the kindness in our heart

is the best part of our humanity

WE ARE ALL HUMAN

 

I am a human being which means 

(and you’ll find all anthropologist agreeing)

I share many of my characteristics…

with you…and every other human being.

This truth, in some, evoke both hatefulness and wrath…

How, as human being, we all share a similar evolutionary path.

Which means when you or I meet a fellow human being…

It’s not the whole human we first see…

because some of our human characteristics

are hidden…inside of you…inside of me.

For like you and all humans I am many colors…

I am black, brown, red and beige…I am the colors of the stars at night…

In fact because of our melanin, a natural pigment we all share,

the only color we are not…is white.

So when some humans try to divide us up…

when they decide to categorize and segregate us…

Not only are they doing a disservice to every human…

But to those who worked hard to create us.

And when we bomb and kill and abuse other human beings…

When we say they are not welcome…when we build a wall…

we are not only damaging those fellow humans…we’re doing damage to us all.

This basic information…can be found in our science books…

where the facts are waiting for us to understand them…

provided those humans…who are afraid of this truth

have not already banned them.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

 

I am grateful for my friends and family

my children, my grandchildren,

My great-granddaughter…and my wife…

just a few of the many reasons I enjoy

every moment of my life