THE BUTTERFLY LESSON

One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon. A little boy sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. So the little boy decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings. The little boy continued to watch the butterfly because he 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 was never able to fly.

What the little boy, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was nature's way of forcing 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.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we went through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly. If we live like the little boy then it's very difficult to get past the very question about life and death that already has an answer beyond our understanding. And that is, it's just like the struggling butterfly...

I ask for strength.....I receive difficulties to make me strong.
I ask for wisdom.....I receive problems to solve.
I ask for prosperity.....I receive a brain and brawn to work.
I ask for courage.....I receive danger to overcome.
I ask for love.....I receive troubled people to help.
I ask for favors.....I receive opportunities
I receive nothing I wanted...I receive everything I needed.
I ask for life.....I receive death to receive eternal life and salvation.
Every one of us will eventually break out of our cocoon and fly

Taken from my dad's writings on his website:  www.nuggetsoftruth.com