This morning I saw a butterfly. It swooped gracefully down into the garden where I was working, catching me by surprise by such an early Spring appearance. As I watched it, I was reminded of a joke a friend once shared with me. "Two caterpillars were sitting on a leaf watching a butterfly overhead. Said one caterpillar to the other – “You won’t catch me up there!”
How often do our negative perspectives on life limit our expectations and the fulfillment of our potential? Are we ready to see beyond our “leaf”?
The life of a butterfly also has wonderful lessons for us at Easter. The caterpillar enters into a chrysalis state – rather like a tomb. To all intents and purposes, the dried up looking hull of the chrysalis looks dead, but inside something akin to spring is happening. A transformation is occurring from which a beautiful butterfly emerges to a new and higher life - rather like the resurrecton and ascension of Christ Jesus.
One perspective of this could be that there is more to life and existence than just a human body. And many of us, whether we are religious or not, feel that there is a continuation of life after this world experience. But what does that mean in terms of how we see and live our life NOW?
I think it points to the possibility of recognizing that not only are we more than just a body, but that our thoughts and expectations have a role to play in our lives in ways that are now being explored and recognized. This recognition can have a huge impact on the way we view our health and how we live our lives now. We don't need to think, like the two caterpillars on the leaf - that we can never be more than what we see. Looking upward and outward can give us new perspectives of what we really are; a less limited, healthier view that we can experience here and now.
Anna Bowness-Park is a Christian Science practitioner of prayer based healing
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