Good Morning,
Many years ago when I was just a child in elementary school our
teacher brought in a cocoon of a butterfly for science. The cocoon
was on a small stick in a glass aquarium by the window and everyday I
would check in to see if the butterfly had arrived yet. One day a
small opening appeared. We all gathered and watched the butterfly as
it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it
seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten
as far as it could.

We decided to help the butterfly. The teacher took a pair of scissors
and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon allowing the
butterfly to emerge easily, but it had a swollen body and small,
shriveled wings. We continued to watch the butterfly because we
expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to
be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither
happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling
around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to
fly.

What none of us knew at the time and in our kindness and haste we did
not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle
required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were to
force fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it
would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

What we fail to see in our lives is that sometimes struggles are
exactly what we need. If we were to go through our lives without any
obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong and wise as
what we could have been. We could never fly!

We we need strength………we have difficulties to make us strong.

We we need wisdom………we have problems to solve.

We we need courage………we have dangers to overcome.

When we need love………we have others to help.

When we look for favors………we have opportunities.

It seems as though we receive nothing we want ……..and yet we
learn that we have everything we need!

Peace and Love, Jim