Yesterday I was walking to the subway in my neighborhood and I saw the most amazing sight. It was something I see so infrequently that I had to pause and marvel at it. As a matter of fact, this particular thing was so abundant when I was a child, that I never considered the possibility that just the sight of one or more of them would get me so excited.

So let me tell you what I saw. There were three butterflies in this bed of flowers in this garden in front of a beautiful Victorian home. There was a Monarch and two small white ones. Yes, I was thrilled to see them. I have not seen that many butterflies in one place in a long time. You should know that I am outdoors a lot, play golf several times a week, walk my dog in the woods just about every day, and I don’t see a lot of butterflies

Now you are probably thinking that I just don’t notice them or I am unaware of what’s going on around me. Well, I assure you that’s not the case. I am a Zen sort of guy and I try to be present wherever I am. I even wrote a book on that stuff. So when I tell you there are not a lot of butterflies floating around DC, you should believe me. If there were, I would see them and take delight in their presence.

When I was a kid I used to catch one and then release it so I could watch it float away. I used to be very proud that I could grab one out of the air without harming it and let it go. It may sound dumb that I would make a big deal out of catching a butterfly. Try it. If you think you can do it. It’s not that easy.

Remember, there was this great boxer called Ali, who would shout, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” (Hey that’s another thing. What about bees?) So if Muhammad Ali thinks butterflies are elusive, I not going to argue with him or the many poets and composers who wrote about their elusive nature.

My friends that’s the point that I want to make to you today. Butterflies are elusive, and perhaps more than they have ever been. They are eluding us because they are dying off. Let’s call it a forced elusiveness, if there is such a thing. So it’s no wonder that I would get so excited about seeing three of them at the same time in the same place. That qualifies as a natural phenomenon in these environmentally distressed times, and that’s very sad.

I thought I would share this with you because we just celebrated Earth Day and I did not write anything about it. So seeing three butterflies at once made me recall how plentiful these beautiful creatures used to be and reflect on how important they are. Now, what I would like for you to do is read up on all the information about how our abuse of this planet is making these divine creatures disappear, and choose some course of action.

I have done my reading, and selected my first course of action. I am going to start with making the right choice at the polls this year. Let me know what you are going to do,



— — —

Rev. Jay Speights has an MA in public policy and is an interfaith minister and the main U.N. representative for The New Seminary in New York. You can learn more about his work at The New Seminary website or at http://jayspeights.blogspot.com/ . His email address is {email jayspeights@newseminary.org}jayspeights@newseminary.org{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Jay Speights.