Butterflies

Butterflies, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

I was looking at the photos of our day in the wilderness together, and this photo just captivated me. There's my dad. So focused, and so full of care for his family. I just appreciate all the times we get to share to gether, and the adventures he's willing to go on with me. So many thoughts and memories get captured in a photo, and then get set free in our own minds.

Looking at this image, I remember that slightly after I took the picture, my dad had butterflies.

When I mention the word butterflies, I'm not talking about the small winged creatures that were at some time in the past caterpillars. Nor am I talking about the nervous feelings right before a big game, or a big speech, or that light feeling you feel when you are in love. If you are a fisherman butterflies have a whole different meaning.

I took this picture of my Dad as he was tying a trout magnet lure onto his fishing line. Just a little bit later, he had butterflies. A butterfly is a term used to describe what happens when you are fishing and for some reason (usually because you are casting too hard for the amount of weight you have on your line) your fishing line doesn't go back onto the reel properly, and you end up with a huge tangle--a butterfly. And if you aren't careful, the butterfly will knot up as you are trying to untangle it. Generally people will cut their line when this happens, but if we are patient we can slowly undo the butterfly and get the line back on the reel properly again.

Butterflies are a part of fishing, but they are also a part of life. Maybe we go at it too hard, and push too much in an area, and we produce butterflies. Sometimes, we just want to cut the line and start over, but in real life, the tangled line usually involves real people. So we slowly untangle and make things right. We reconcile. And when we do that, we have fresh opportunities.

For instance, I untangled the butterfly in my dad's line, and then I caught that awesome brood trout. Made for a great photo too!

Recapture the Wonder

Recapture the Wonder, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

This past monday, I captured this beautiful cluster of butterflies dancing along the bank of the Shaver's Fork of the Cheat River, just outside where my family's cabin lies.

Seeing these butterflies in this picture reminded me of a story my old chief used to tell about how easy it is to lose wonder in our contemporary world. I would like to share a little bit of the story with you. It goes a little something like this . . .

Do you remember the first time you saw a butterfly? Maybe you were four or five years old. Maybe you uttered a word like "Wow!" more as a gasp or a whisper than an exclamation. Or maybe you just stood there with a big wide open look of awe at something so delicate and so beautiful. You didn't necessarily have a question to ask about what you saw, you were simply struck with amazement at it's simple beauty.

And then someone tells you, "That's a butterfly." When you hear it, you respond with "Wow! Butterfly!" You name it. And it still fills your heart with wonder.

And then, something changes as you get older. You lose the awe. You begin to discover that the butterfly is a monarch butterfly, or another type. (Like this one--I have no idea what it is? Maybe a Spicebush Swallowtail?) We get caught up in facts.

We learn that the butterfly is really just a phase in the metamorphic life of a caterpillar. Instead of being caught up in the awe of it all, we get bogged down in the facts. The irony is that these details should inspire us to greater awe, but often we get more caught up in the fact that we "know" what it is we are looking at.

After we go through all of this classification and learn the details, we end up at a place where we often say--that's just a butterfly. We lose the wonder of it all.

But what if we were to take time out and appreciate it? What if we could take a step back and enjoy the butterfly for its beaut? What if as adults, we took time to look at a butterfly with the eyes of a child? What if we allowed the physical world to bring us to a place of awe before our great Creator?

Do something today. Take a step outside. Look at a tree. Or a butterfly. Don't classify it. Just enjoy and appreciate the design and the beauty of what is before you. Take a moment and let yourself be awed. Let it bring you to a place not only in awe of what dances before your eyes, but let it take you to a place of greater wonder of our fantastically creative God.