Rainbows and butterflies are themselves beautiful and highly symbolic, but they are also representative of all the small miracles of our life - the little things that are so easy to overlook, yet so awe inspiring when we take a moment to notice and to pay attention.
Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies, for all God's creatures - large and small, for the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain, for the tree veiled in the season's first frost, for the baby's laugh, for the touch of a hand and the whispered "I love you."
My own "Rainbows & Butterflies" are the squirrels chasing each other around the apple tree, the deer and her fawn who visit us for the apples, the magnificent hawk who swoops low through our yard, the sea otters at play on the beach, the ungainly yet graceful and serene manatees that once came to swim with us.
Consider these "Rainbows & Butterflies"
- a gentle kiss
- a baby's smile
- the voice on the telephone that says "I'm glad you called."
- the gentle whisper from the other side of the bed, "sweet dreams. I love you."
- a song that touches our heart - whether a sad song, a song of love, or a polka
- raindrops on leaves
- brightly colored glass
- a bird in flight
- a basketful of kittens
- a gentle fog
- a sunset
- a roaring fire
- roasting marshmallows
- the season's first dusting of snow
- fruit and vegetables picked with our own hand
Exercise: What are my "Rainbows & Butterflies?" How often am I conscious of the small miracles that happen right before my eyes? How might my life be more Joyful if I adopted the practice of a daily Celebration of my "Rainbows & Butterflies?" How might that Celebration look?
12 comments:
Thanks you for this piece. It is so comforting to know that it is not crazy to be grateful for the amazing things that living offers. I wish I can do it more often, and have a more fulfilling life. I have praying for a child for a long time and I am still waiting for God to answer my prayers, but I always have reasons to be grateful, sometimes to my own amazement.Your pieces are very inspiring. Thanks again.
Amen to that
life is wonderfull and amazzing seems we see it more when we are fragile....grab life with all you are...be yourself in all your splendor,,,love laugh live.give and yea laugh more
thanks to the godzzz of divercity
I have done this for a very long time. I think this very thing is what has kept me sane all these years.
When I was a child--I would watch in amazement at the spider spinning his glorious web. This could keep me spellbound for hours.
My mother had brought home some tubes from the hospital, and gave me the little set of cake icing colors. My neighbor Jane and I spent nearly two hours each morning filling the tubes with water and adding a drop of blue to a drop of green. Then we might empty out half of the blue-green water, fill it back up and add a drop of yellow. We did this all summer long. It was the cheapest of entertainment--and to this day I am very sensitive to color and it's rays of beauty.
I love 'Butterflies & Rainbows' & have always marveled over them...I love the simple things that the Lord has given us to enjoy! The other day I saw a beautiful butterfly & said a little prayer that the Lord would make it land so I could get a picture of it...sure enough it did & I was able to get an awesome picture & then to my amazement I saw him take flight & flew right in front of me & landed on my shoulder!!!
P.T.L.! One other time my husband & I were turning around on a road that was too narrow & I noticed on the road a beautiful butterfly & I said stop, let me get a picture, so I got out & just before I went to take the picture, another butterfly flew by & landed right next to the other one! God is so good & he knows what tickles me! He answers the smallest prayers!
To me, everything is a miracle, not just the beautiful and lovely things. Yet this wasn't my way of thinking until last year. At that time my husband picked out a cofin for me because I was about to die. Then as you now probably know, two things changed: ....I lived and my outlook of life gained appreciation of all. Thanks, Jonathan Lockwood Huie, for being
a means of inspiration to us who seek it......
And I must not forget the wonderful computer system that makes this possible. Seesee
Yes, "everything is a miracle, not just the beautiful and lovely things." Some how this picture of an old truck axle on a beautiful beach epitomizes my appreciation of the miracle of everything.
http://blog.dreamthisday.com/2009/01/joseph-campbell-world-is-perfect-its.html
I walked outside this morning and saw the dew on the grass ~ just beautiful!! One of my favorites is seeing the small spiderwebs on the dewy grass, sparkling in the sunlight! Ahh-mazing!! Bunny :)
"Rainbows and Butterflies" These are a few of my faviorite things, as the song goes. God never ceases to amaze me with His little miracles. Answered prayers, believing in the unseen, then having your prayers answered. Yes, He is an amazing God, and His miracles, no matter how small are deeply appreciated by me. His Splendor and Glory! And His Word: Delight yourself in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart. ~ Psalm 37:4 Once we delight ourselves in Him (and His little miracles) He finds incrediable ways to show Himself to us and give us the desires of our hearts. Praising Him with every breath I take, I thank you for bringing up this subject, Mr. Huie. Have a Beautiful Blessed Day! Marge Brooks
Everything that God created truly is a miracle. Please consider this and stop contributing to the violence, suffering and cruelty of the farmed animals...go vegan...it's the right thing to do. (:
Zebras and lions are both part of God's miracle.
Sounds like a beautiful analogy...that "zebras and lions are both part of God's miracle" but unfortunately there is a little bit of difference between an animal hunting in the wild to survive and the intensive, massive agricultural operations in place today where billions of innocent beings are subjected to the worst possible horrors, from the moment they are born until they end up, both physically and psychologically broken, in the slaughterhouse. Celebrate all of God's beauty and go vegan. (:
Lions have to kill animals for their meat to survive. We don't have to. Chooose peace.
God's ideal vision is Eden, where no creatures are harmed. We can't completely recreate Eden but we can do our part by refraining from inflicting avoidable harm on other living beings, including animals.
Our consciences, our ability to make honest moral decisions, our capacity to sacrifice indulgences and habits for the good of those less powerful and privileged - these are part of God's miracle as well.
And vegan marshmallows, too. :)
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