This is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly which is enjoying the blessing of an azalea. I photographed this last month during our time in Louisiana. Forgive me for sounding morose or for not moving on, but for some reason I found comfort in seeing this insect during the difficult time of experiencing the death of my father, a renewed sense of the death of my mother, and the death (at least the ending) of what has been a significant part of my life for 51 years by preparing the "Place" to sell.
I am not attempting to simply "get over it". Sorry, but that does not happen. If you just "get over it" then whatever you are "just getting over" certainly did not mean much to you. Instead, the butterfly and what it symbolizes to me helped put everything in perspective. What does the butterfly represent? It is a reminder of The Resurrection. Not just any resurrection, mind you, but The Resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The butterfly "dies" in its cocoon, those of you who are entomologists (as if one would read this blog!) would correct my perception, but this is representation or illustration - which is not always exacting in comparisons, and then the butterfly comes back to life. It is Spring. And, The Resurrection is not some lame story that has evolved as a Spring Passage Story thought up by our forefathers as symbolic of the earth coming back to life after the dormancy of winter. The Resurrection is the shock wave that shoots through the universe and changes every thing.
Sunday worship here on the day we celebrate The Resurrection was awesome. The music was amazing, we had a great attendance (400 - 500), and the Lord gave grace during the message. My point was to take the worn out cliche - You Cannot Get There From Here - and to turn it on its head and say that The Resurrection is about - You Cannot Get Here From There. I understand how Jesus got to Dead, in that there is no mystery. We are all headed for Dead. But,
getting from Dead back to Life, that is amazing and therein lies our hope. And, The Resurrection is not just about an exclamation point at the end of the death of Jesus. It is not just about me saying "Nan Nan Na Nana" to death. It literally changes everything. Jesus is taking back the universe. He is not giving the devil an inch. This good earth is going to be transformed back to what the Lord intended it to be in the first place and the power that is going to accomplish that has already been unleashed by The Resurrection. And we, the people who are recipients of His grace are also being transformed by that same power to become more and more like what He intended us to be from the beginning. It is a process that won't be complete till Jesus comes back, but the power is already at work in our world.
And, it all comes because Jesus has provided a way in order to Get Here From There.
I am not attempting to simply "get over it". Sorry, but that does not happen. If you just "get over it" then whatever you are "just getting over" certainly did not mean much to you. Instead, the butterfly and what it symbolizes to me helped put everything in perspective. What does the butterfly represent? It is a reminder of The Resurrection. Not just any resurrection, mind you, but The Resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The butterfly "dies" in its cocoon, those of you who are entomologists (as if one would read this blog!) would correct my perception, but this is representation or illustration - which is not always exacting in comparisons, and then the butterfly comes back to life. It is Spring. And, The Resurrection is not some lame story that has evolved as a Spring Passage Story thought up by our forefathers as symbolic of the earth coming back to life after the dormancy of winter. The Resurrection is the shock wave that shoots through the universe and changes every thing.
Sunday worship here on the day we celebrate The Resurrection was awesome. The music was amazing, we had a great attendance (400 - 500), and the Lord gave grace during the message. My point was to take the worn out cliche - You Cannot Get There From Here - and to turn it on its head and say that The Resurrection is about - You Cannot Get Here From There. I understand how Jesus got to Dead, in that there is no mystery. We are all headed for Dead. But,
getting from Dead back to Life, that is amazing and therein lies our hope. And, The Resurrection is not just about an exclamation point at the end of the death of Jesus. It is not just about me saying "Nan Nan Na Nana" to death. It literally changes everything. Jesus is taking back the universe. He is not giving the devil an inch. This good earth is going to be transformed back to what the Lord intended it to be in the first place and the power that is going to accomplish that has already been unleashed by The Resurrection. And we, the people who are recipients of His grace are also being transformed by that same power to become more and more like what He intended us to be from the beginning. It is a process that won't be complete till Jesus comes back, but the power is already at work in our world.
And, it all comes because Jesus has provided a way in order to Get Here From There.
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