The Spiritual Butterfly

There are two veins of thought when it comes to free will.  One vein says that we are blobs of biological matter with no free will, because our decisions are pre-determined by external stimuli affecting the firing of synaptic pathways.  The other vein would be that we are a spirit, we have our mind, will and emotions (our soul) and we live in a body.  This would give us the ability to make choices independent of our circumstances and environment.  The following is predicated on the latter.

Our story begins with a small yellow butterfly in the mountains of northern South America.  This type of butterfly takes a journey each year up the coast of South America, along Mexico, traveling north often as far as Tennessee.  This butterfly, however happened to catch an errant breeze which carried him into a town.  In this town, he came across a young girl standing on the side of a bridge with tears in her eyes.  He lingered for a few minutes as the girl stepped from the side of the bridge and they watched each other.  He flew away when the girl strolled away with a smile. 

Being closer to the coast now than he expected, he was caught up in an ocean breeze which carried him out to sea.  The butterfly was dismayed, now far from any land, he thought that he would never be able to meet his friends in Tennessee when along comes a ship.  The butterfly manages to catch up to and land for a rest on this ship.  A sailor working hard on the deck noticed him and recognizing that it was the only thing on the ship which was not grey, captured him and placed him in a cage for viewing.  After several days of travel, the ship came in to port along the southern coast of the United States.  By this point the sailor was feeling sorry for the butterfly and set him free.  The butterfly, ecstatic with his new found freedom, began to fly with an energized fervor towards the north. 

The butterfly now ready for a new visit, saw a black man sitting in a park.  The butterfly, ready for some play time after much captivity, proceeded to fly around and play with the gentleman.  The man first with a heavy heart and concerned demeanor sat up and began to watch the butterfly and consider his plight.  The man extended his had to have the butterfly land on it only for a second before it took flight in the erratic beauty and freedom which only a butterfly has.  The man finally said aloud, “I have a dream” before walking inside of his church.  The butterfly, content with play time, continued on to meet his friends in Tennessee.

The point of this is only to say that one diversion, one smile or even one struggle can be the simple thing which alters your, and someone else’s history for the better.  The butterfly was on a journey which happened to intersect with a few others.  The question is, were the interactions beneficial?  If you have ever read any of Martin Luther Kings sermons, you may have come across one comparing our lives with that of the free butterfly.  The example that Jesus asks us to be is that of freedom and love. 

What does your day look like?