onathirdjourney,
Your follow-on poem is so cool! I was at a butterfly atrium last year and I saw what I think you are talking about in your poem - GIANT butterflies landing on fruit and chomp, chomp, chomping away
To me, life is way too short to get beset by and overwhelmed by it all.
Pausing amidst the wonder of God's little messengers helps me through
the toughest of times - like pausing to stop and appreciate a butterfly
lighting on a plant to feed.
For the butterfly it is a nourishing moment.
For us, it nourishes our eyes and souls.
And in the big scheme of things, after three tours to Iraq,
the littlest of things carry much more weight, for me, than mortars,
rockets, bombs, and or grand plans for peace and security.
If one is not secure within in their own, it is impossible to spread
safety and security abroad. Inner peace creates outer peace -
you have to become what you expect in others if you ever want to
enact the Golden rule of "doing unto others as you would want them
to do unto you."
Smile, love, care, hope, and the humility to think that we are all under
the umbrella of God's care - and eternally cared for - matters most;
contrary to acts of vengeance and/or bloodlust as is commonly portrayed
by hollywood.
Begin with peace within,
The bigger scheme of things are like the wind.
But what matters most is the calm inside,
From which the storms outside subside.
To be the calm within the storm,
There must reside a love not torn -
By every whim or chance or strife,
But settled on eternal life.
To me, onathirdjourney, butterflies remind me that God has a plan -
beyond which I will never fathom; but, through faith, can grow to
trust.