worship and butterflies

One day last week I experienced great worship…not in a church service, but on my street. After breakfast I got Brady and Cash into the stroller and went for a walk in our neighborhood. We live in the country, on a dirt and gravel road surrounded by trees. There is a lake nearby, and a few streams that run along and under the road…

On our walk we came upon a butterfly, bouncing from one plant to another next to the road, and even fluttering back and forth across the road. I pointed the butterfly out to Brady, then we followed it. The butterfly kept going down the road, always staying close enough for Brady to track him. I pushed and watched Brady; he was fascinated with the butterfly.

Last week at a conference a speaker talked about how to view liturgical art—that we don’t look at it, but through it. The art is not meant to be an end to itself, but a lense, through which we see God. 

That’s how I felt as I watched Brady and the butterfy—that by looking through them and their interaction I could see the face of God--smiling, taking pleasure in His creation. I saw God in the beauty of this butterfly, in the trees and plants around which the butterfly flew. I saw God through the eyes of my son, watching the butterfly with amazement, smiling, laughing, pointing…

It was a beautiful morning, and a wonderful example of this idea of whole-life worship.