Wings of Wonder

When I was a very little girl in Sunday school, and the world was full of magic and wonder, our teacher asked us each to think of something that would remind us, every time we saw it, of God's deep and abiding love.

Do you want to know what I chose? Yes, you guessed it: butterflies! They were the most beautiful, most magical thing I could think of. When I bought my own house back in 2004, I wanted very much to help take care of the butterflies. So I planted a butterfly garden. For what can one do when one loves, but do all that one can to take care of the best beloved?

I planted mostly nectar crops in my butterfly garden, things like echinops and monarda. Wilder blooms grew in the yard, things like jewelweed, with their shapely orange flowers. I don't know why, but those first few years, I whacked them. I guess I thought I wanted a tidy yard.

But here is a thing I have learned. The jewelweed makes a fine late-season snack for the butterflies and hummingbirds and bees. As I get older, I like a wilder looking yard. I don't whack them anymore. I let them grow.

And the butterflies come, and they feast. As do the hummingbirds; they hover at every bloom. And oh, you should SEE the bumblebees, with their furry little butts sticking out of the orange flowers - it's enough to make you laugh out loud on a summer afternoon.

I am a much older girl now, but the world is still full of magic. And God is still out there, watching and listening. With a child's heart, I know that he is the one who sent this butterfly, to fly in upon wings of wonder and feast on the wild jewelweed that I finally learned to let grow.

The soundtrack: Sarah McLachlan, Bring on the Wonder.

P.S. This butterfly is a spicebush swallowtail. :-)