Butterflies, Beauty, And The Bear!

I took a quick shot of my grand daughter as we were in the process of completing our meal this evening(actually she was through, and I was working my way down to the surface of a plate filled by a slice of key lime pie). I began the work on the butterfly I found(dead)and was simultaneously putting the text in while she played with the leggos and I ate the pie. It occurred to me that Kyra is very much like a butterfly as she grows. She wanted to know about the picture and I always try to come up with a story, so this was first hers.
A long time ago a bear was growing up in the woods far away. The bear was lonely and had nobody to play with until he found a valley filled with beautiful butterflies. He would watch them and chase them as they fluttered about and often tried to play with them, but every time he caught one it would die, so he was sad. The butterflies noticed the bear's sadness and that made them sad, too, so they stopped their fluttering all over the valley and just sat watching the bear. Soon the young bear wandered off to find something else to play with and then the butterflies all felt happy and started fluttering again because that is what they love to do. When the bear returned(yes, he was about your age)he was filled with smiles because the butterflies were all fluttering about. This time he knew that if he caught them they wouldn't flutter anymore so he chased them, laughed at them, and he tried to flutter too, but he couldn't, and this made him very sad, so he just sat down and began to cry. All of the butterflies saw the deep sadness in the bear and they came and sat on his shoulders, and on his head, and even right on the tip of his nose, and he was so happy, but he never, ever touched them. Even though he could not flutter with them, they could all enjoy one another and they lived happily ever after. It's only a silly made up story, but the truth of it is that there are many things in life that we can only enjoy the beauty of when they are free to flutter. Grab hold of them with a net or your hands and soon they no longer bring joy, only sadness. In capturing them we take away their freedom and the "essence" of their beauty. So it is with learning as we grow that there are things we desire which only retain their essence until obtained. The human spirit(I'm referring to the kind we all possess) desires to flit about and joyfully explore creation and be happy. Our task is to be careful not to swat them in our attempt to play with them. Mine (pictured above)was probably hit by a vehicle while fluttering around. I brought it home to reflect on the greater beauty it had when it was alive, and in the process a lesson was taught to Kyra and I through the beauty of the butterfly and the innocence of the bear. None of us runs around trying to end the life of a butterfly or a spirit, but it happens just the same. Perhaps when we examine ourselves and realize what we have done to one we can learn not to do it to another, or one another! God bless, Preacher.