I love butterflies. I’m pretty sure that I have always loved butterflies. I have memories of being a little kid gleefully chasing monarch butterflies down the cow path when we lived on the farm. It’s just such a magical experience to have one of those tiny creatures land on your clothing or your hand!
Butterflies are so beautiful. There is such a variety of colors and patterns: black and brown stripes, all green, blue and white with brown spots, green and teal and black, yellow and black, the list goes on and on. It seems to me that God maybe spent extra time on this insect order known as Lepidoptera.
Butterflies are also so very delicate. Their wings are thin and fragile. Their bodies are soft and not as protective as those of other insects. This fragility makes me want to protect them. It also makes me want to plant milkweed to feed the local monarchs.
Recently, there was a picture of a butterfly for the children to color in one of the children’s bulletins. I was honored that one of the children colored his butterfly purple and then handed it to me at the end of the worship service. That same children’s bulletin also said that butterflies are symbols of Spring. That’s very true. I remember teachers in my elementary school who would bring in cocoons in the Spring so that we could watch them transform into butterflies. Then we would get to release the butterflies when they were ready.
Butterflies also symbolize transformation and new life. The butterfly’s transformation from cocoon into winged creature is a powerful symbol of change and rebirth. It’s quite a difficult process to become a butterfly. For us, as Christians, the butterfly is one of the symbols of Easter because of this transformation. After Jesus’ death on the cross, his body was placed in the tomb and transformed before he rose again.
Over the next month, we will remember Jesus’ final journey on earth. We will remember the ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the last supper on Maundy Thursday, the death on Good Friday, and the glorious rise from death on Easter Sunday. It’s a journey we follow every year because it is such a vital story of our faith. I hope you will join us for this journey!
Pastor Beth
