Fluttering Inspiration

As you can see, my blog has a slightly updated and improved look to it... (I got bored Friday) Let me know if it makes things hard to read or whatnot. I don't have much to report on this week as far as events go, as I spent yet another weekend in San Jose. This time I at least had some money and was able to see the city and some museums, parks, etc. In other news I begin my last four days of Spanish class this week, which will be followed by 6 free days that I plan to use traveling a little (granted my loans come in my then). Also, the girl who had been living at my house and a few other of my closer friends here left today to begin their volunteering programs, which leaves me to find more people who I will in turn be leaving soon.

While this was a comparatively ordinary week in Costa Rica there was one, seemingly insignificant event, did stick in my mind and kept coming back. As I was touring the city I stopped in at the National Museum, which I'd already visited but didn't have time to check out the "Secret Garden" (a butterfly garden situated in the middle of this old historic fort). I remember thinking as I was about halfway through the trail that I hadn't seen any butterflies. It was about then that I happened upon a contraption holding some old fruit in which a large, yet fairly unimpressive, butterfly was feeding. It was a kind of brownish gray and the only significant feature I could see was an eye stop for deterring predators. I stopped and simply watched it fill its proboscis(nerdy entomology term for the mouth thingy that it uses to eat) with the fruits contents. Once it was satisfied it took flight and as it fluttered this way and that I got to see the vibrant blue colors it had been hiding. This somewhat caught me off guard and being the dork that I am, really intrigued me. There was just something about that that wouldn't leave me alone, and i found it interesting how something that small could change my attitude from almost pessimistic to joyful. I know this is part of it's survival strategy but as it sat there and did next to nothing it blended in and was almost unnoticeable; but once it started doing something, flying and moving, you'd have to have to be blind not to notice it.

It's strange how God can use something you've seen over and over again and this time somehow use it to teach us something. I couldn't help but think there was a reason this stuck me so strongly, but what was it. As I replayed this image in my head throughout the day, it eventually associated itself with a bible verse I'd been trying to memorize. (A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35) (Tangent: this verse originally stuck out to me because of the repetition of the phrase "love one another" three times. I got the image of Jesus just being like, "pay attention this is important... I'm not just saying this for my health... no listen, you need to love one another.") Anyway, I began to try and connect the two, the image and the verse. I tried relating us as people (and particularly as Christians) to the butterfly. If we sit around and do nothing we blend in. There may be a few interesting qualities, but over all nothing special, nothing significant. In order to show what's on the inside (a life changed by knowing Christ) we have to be doing something, but what. How do show the world what we have, how do we share that, how do we open our wings in a way that catches the attention of others and is almost impossible to miss? That's when the verse comes in. Jesus tells us three times exactly how we show the world that we are his disciple, "love one another." This love is more than an emotion, it's an action. That's what evangelism is.

I get excited thinking about this with everything that's going on back home on the Mizzou campus as my friends get an amazing chance to put this into practice starting a new school year with thousands of new students (and old ones too). It helps me focus on the reason behind handing out icee pops, talking to random people in Brady Commons, and going around to dorm rooms at the risk of being awkward or thought of as a little strange. But isn't that kind of the point. There's something different about a person that loves, something that registers as not quite right or normal, something that is noticable. This makes sense because Jesus says this is how we make ourselves known. Jesus also put in the qualifier, "as I have loved you". This, I think, is the ultimate kicker. How has Jesus loved us? The short answer is that He loved us even though we didn't deserve it, and that's how we're comanded to love one another, without making people earn it or even when they've done something that deserves the oposite. Interesting what can happen by watching a butterfly for a few seconds.