Gratitude

My mind whirled...
Thoughts whisked in and out...
All the tasks and to do lists clamored chaotically,
All crying out in unison, "Pick me, first."

Out of the corner of my eye,
I saw the butterfly land on the leaf.
It flapped its wings fully revealing the beautiful orange.
The delicate design of the Creator's imagination.

Stunned for a few seconds,
Marveled that I might have missed that moment.
I fumbled for my phone to snap the above photo.
And the butterfly, who like me, not known for it's patience
seemed to pause.

As I captured the moment...
Or maybe the moment captured me...
there was the swell, swirling feeling of unmistakable gratitude.
A trace of God's grace in a world that is a blur of busyness and to-do-ness

One photo...hardly going to win me a blue ribbon at the state fair.
One photo...that could have just stayed stuck on my phone never shared.
One photo...that suddenly seems like so much more the more I gaze at it.

For this is in the invitation...
If the world is infused with God's glory,
Why don't I act like it?
If God so loves the world,
Why don't I trust like it?
If this moment is so saturated with the sacred,
Why don't I live like it?

Yes, there is too much brokenness, hurt and harm.
Yes, bigotry and abuse continue to cause sharp shards of life that cut deeply.
Yes...and there is also another truth juxtaposed...
God is here.
And while I may only see a trace...
A fleeting, fragile butterfly that quickly fluttered away...
For that one moment, I realized next to the bad news...there is good news
If I am open to it.

May the both/and traces of God's grace and peace be noticed in your life this day.

Amen.