Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, Sept 9, 2009

Black and orange butterfly -
Flying joyously.
Wings like a nun's hands:
First folded in prayer,
Then open in offering.

Even the angry and insane leave the butterfly alone.
Why can we not learn to honor the innocence in one
another? Maybe we spend too much time dwelling on
the ugly. In the name of practicality or realism, we
think about strategy, defense, territory, gain, and ad-
vantage. We are too late to be like the butterfly. But at
least we can honor it, and move as closely to its simple
existence.

- Taoist thought

A couple of weeks after I was ordained priest, I went to Nicaragua. I spent several months centered in Tasbapauni, from which I went out to celebrate the Eucharist and other sacraments at several other points. I have often said that it was like living in a National Geographic article!

Bodily functions in Tasbapauni were often attended to on the … ah … beach. Actually, it was a fascinating bit of cultural construction: there could have been twenty people on the beach, but for all intents and purposes, you were alone. Amazing how the corporate mind works!

Anyway, one morning I was sitting there when I noted out of the corner of my left eye a huge dark cloud coming down the coast in an otherwise clear sunny sky. As I watched, an enormous flock of millions of Monarch butterflies sailed soundlessly across my vision and on their way south. It was a “Nirvana” moment. And I would no more have thought of harming them than myself.

Today, over 35 years later, I am reminded again: Strive to honour all Life.

Brian+