Broken Butterfly

Today, I watched as a black butterfly crossed my path.  It's seems it could read my mind.  It landed on a spot where I could look at it more closely.  Then, gracefully, it began to open and close it's wings displaying brilliant blue markings on one side and orange on the other.  I inspected it closely.  It seemed to stay there as long as I wanted, and as I marveled at it's beauty, I saw that the tip of one of the wings was jagged.  This magnificent creature was missing part of it's body.  The mechanism that gave it flight had been torn.  However, from afar, the disfigurement was not noticeable.

What is broken in people may not be evident at first, but I wonder how often we take the time to really look at them.  Do we realize they have had damage done even though they may seem to function just fine?  What happened to them causing them to fly differently?

I think it is easier to focus on ourselves than to really take an interest in hurting people.  We may see something in that person that we don't want to face about ourselves.  We may judge them so that we don't have to look at our own broken wing.  Whatever the case, God is the mighty healer.  He is the one that makes the impossible, possible.  What looks marred and ugly, he makes bright, beautiful and new.  Sometimes, he brings other people into our lives to be the mirror we avoid.  Thank goodness there is more than enough grace to go around.