I sit on the porch religiously every night around 7 o’clock, watching Mother Nature paint a magnificent sunset with here watercolors, searching for the words to accurately describe the glorious colors of her watercolors. Today she hid her painting of sunset behind a cover of vanilla clouds but I know it was beautiful by the soft butterscotch shades that managed to peak out just as the day’s light paled. Father Sky escorted the sun down the horizon in her sterling silver formal gown but the pageant of sunset played out behind the clouds. I know it was magnificent and I look forward to watching her rendering of the sunset tomorrow.

The butterflies are back dancing on their colorful zinnia stages, beautifully dressed in their summer dancing frocks. The yellow cloudless sulfur butterflies are all over my yard this morning with their glorious flight patterns. Watching them pirouetting through the landscape, you can hear nature’s classical music that fuels their magical flights. I followed them all around the zinnias today. They are glorious, humble little creatures tap dancing happily on the vivid blooms while I capture their dance recitals on my camera.

This morning my little flower garden was full of honey bees and bumble bees and butterflies. The songbirds were flitting around the big bird feeder nestled in the zinnias. I watched the butterflies drinking nectar from the colorful flowers, slowly spreading their wings in the warm sunshine, saying their prayers of thanks for this wondrous day. The bees were buzzing around gathering the yellow pollen in their little black leg baskets. So delightful to watch nature and the morning unfold so beautifully. I just perched in the porch and gratefully soaked it all in.

I think we can learn a lot from the zinnia. Zinnias joyfully bloom wherever they’re planted, standing strong and resilient in the summer heat, thriving and flourishing in tough conditions, trusting Mother Nature to provide what they need. We are planted in God’s grace and thrive when we live our lives according to his teachings. God teaches us to trust him and teaches us how to use our faith to grow through adversity. Our spirit blooms with God’s love and holy light.

Juarez Kings writes,“Be like a butterfly and a flower — beautiful and sought after, yet unassuming and gentle.” What a wonderful complement for two of my favorite things, butterflies and flowers. So many beautiful quotes about butterflies. I whiled the afternoon away today searching for butterfly quotes. Ponce Denis says, “The butterfly is a flying flower. The flower is a tethered butterfly.” I love this imagery! Now I see zinnia butterfly wings.

The butterfly is a Christian symbol of the resurrection. Butterflies go through metamorphosis, transferring from a crawling caterpillar to a brightly colored butterfly. When we accept Jesus into our hearts and follow his teachings we are given a new spirit. We’re cocooned in our faith, transformed by God’s love and grace. Second Corinthians 5:17 reads, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

We can take advice from the butterfly, too. “The butterfly does not look back upon its caterpillar self, either fondly or wishfully; it simply flies on,” Ravindranath Tagore. We need to learn to fly on, too. I think Steve Maraboli says it best, “Forget yesterday — it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow — you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift — today.”

I think butterflies are a symbol of hope, too. No matter how we feel trapped in our lives, we have God’s promise of a new day and a new life. When life is dark we can look to God for light. We can go through a transformation, just like the butterfly, when we clothe ourselves ourselves in our spiritual beliefs. We all have the ability to change. It just takes determination, perseverance, and patience. We put our trust in God and he’ll shows us how to soar on our butterfly wings of faith.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” God has covered the Earth with beauty. We don’t have to travel to find it, we live in it. Seeing a butterfly can symbolize change and joy and new beginnings and renewed hope. Some believe when a butterfly lands on you, a spirit is coming to visit. One afternoon last year a big monarch butterfly lit on my cheek, kissing my face, doing a little tap dance on my cheek with his skinny black legs. I knew who it was and I loved his message!

“From creeping chrysalis to dancing sky, the butterfly teaches us that beauty blooms after struggle.” — Scott Hammell