The Wings of Freedom

A butterfly starts life as a very small, round, oval or cylindrical egg. When the egg hatches, the caterpillar will start his work and eat the leaf they were born onto. One day, the caterpillar stops eating and spins itself a silky cocoon. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly. From the outside of the cocoon, it looks as if the caterpillar may just be resting, but the inside is where all the action is. Within the cocoon the old body parts of the caterpillar are undergoing a remarkable transformation to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that will emerge. As soon as the butterfly has rested after coming out of the cocoon, it will pump blood into the wings in order to get them working and flapping – then they get to fly.

My sister Beth entered into this world April 20, 1965. We were blessed to have her born into our family and she grew up with her own flare and adventuresome spirit. She was the one in the family who marched to the beat of her own drum. Then in March of 2008 her body took on what would be the vehicle that took her to heaven…cancer was her cocoon and work began inside her body like never before. From the outside we saw the fight…the struggle…the deterioration of her body…the quiet and unreachable silence near the end…eventually her flight home. But, we never got to see the emergence of the butterfly from our viewpoint. I began thinking this morning what did heaven see while looking onto her cocoon? We saw her crawl into this world like the caterpillar, grow into a beautiful woman and eventually cancer spun its dark cocoon. On our end the activity stopped but on heaven’s end it was just beginning. I’ll bet they could see through the cocoon, watching her change…waiting for her beautiful flight into the skies of heaven. Then finally on earth’s calendar March 15, 2009 they saw the breaking of the cocoon…they held their breath…their excitement arose because she was getting ready to fly! I’ll bet the angels could fully visualize the beauty of her emergence. As light broke through her darkness, she exchanged fight for flight. She found herself flying high in the garden of God where she found new life and movement in her new body. Oh sure, the first movement was probably clumsy and awkward, but she was experiencing new found freedom…freedom from sickness and freedom from sadness. The gardens were full of beautiful butterflies, and she discovered that the struggle and fight within the cocoon was the work required for the ultimate freedom with God.

One day we will all emerge from within the cocoon and join the others who have been transformed forever into the beautiful creation God formed. Grief can be so selfish because from our standpoint we see a broken empty cocoon but from Beth’s standpoint, she is walking out the perfect life that God promises each of us.

We love and miss you, thinking daily of you Beth Ann!