Noticing...Butterflies (and a few other things)

Lessons from stilling myself at our butterfly bush

Butterflies have been my unplanned noticing this week.  We have a wonderful butterfly bush in our garden just below our back steps.  Every spring, we prune it way down and by this time every summer it nearly takes over the entry to our garden.  At this time of the year, it is covered with bees and butterflies (small and large).  It is also a haven for photography right now, especially when I can get close-up and see the intricacies of the wings of a butterfly or the pollen collecting on a bee as it is doing its work.

Into the mix this week came a song from Jon Batiste’s new album, World Music Radio, simply entitled Butterfly.  It’s a beautiful, melodic song crafted by Jon’s amazing piano and his soulful voice.  The song isn’t about butterflies per se but instead is about self-discovery and realizing who one really is.   But as I have listened to it many times over, I found myself thinking about the butterflies just outside our door and trying to see more clearly what they are doing.  Much like the song goes deep into discovery, I wanted to discover what might not be obvious.

A few days ago I stilled myself near the bush while a yellow swallowtail was fluttering around and set my iPhone to slow-mo recording and zoomed in as best I could.  What I saw was magical.  It was gorgeous to see the unique details and the strength and flexibility of its wings.  I could see it drawing out the pollen and moving its legs around as it moved around the flowers.  There was such delicateness to it but also such beautiful perfection.

I later looked up what kind of caterpillar precedes the yellow swallowtail.  At some point in recent history, that butterfly was wrapped up inside a chrysalis as it was transforming from a small, ordinary, and brown caterpillar from which it began its life.  The transformation from the caterpillar to the butterfly is remarkable.  What starts out as ordinary changes to something entirely new.  (But both are beautiful in their own ways).

A friend and colleague shared this on her substack earlier this week...

And right there is what John O’Donohue is talking about: “the presence of the divine is completely here, close with us.” I don’t have to do a dang thing except attune. To notice the holy at work in the ordinary...¹

As I have been sitting with this reflection the last few days, I have kept going back to the question - what is emerging in me?  What is emerging in my family?  What is emerging in the congregation I serve?  What is emerging in our world?  What is emerging through all the challenges that this year has brought as well as the blessings? How can I attune myself to notice what is emerging?  Into this, I hear the oft-quoted words of Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God.  But I also hear the words from the retreat I attended a few Mondays ago from Jeremiah 6:16:

Thus says the LORD:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.

This attunement, this noticing, doesn’t just happen.  It takes choosing to be still.  It takes standing at the crossroads, looking, and asking.

So be blessed by this video of that yellow swallowtail accompanied by Jon Batiste’s Butterfly and then some photos from our butterfly bush and then finally a short video that was something I might not have seen if not for the slow-mo.  (Plus a few extra photos from the week including the weekly Scout photo)...

And finally a bit of a funny/interesting moment from the butterfly bush…bullying bee… But as my sister said, the bully doesn’t win…

Ref:

The Blue Room with MaryAnn McKibben Dana

1. “The Divine is Close With Us”, MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Accessed August 26, 2023

The Divine Is Close with Us