Life Cycles

Since I flipped the calendar page over to September I have been yearning for fall. There are hints of it- the air is a little cooler (some might even call it crisp!) after the sun goes down and I see more leaves falling off trees. With my camera in hand, I set out to find fall color.

What I found was a delightful little garden in front of a quaint shop in historic downtown Ellicott City. There were flowers of every color and description and I paused to admire them. Then I noticed the movement... and saw dozens and dozens of butterflies!

All butterflies are exquisitely beautiful. In fact, I have never seen an ugly butterfly... and I bet you haven't either. But butterflies don't start out as butterflies. They begin life as caterpillars... fuzzy, plump little critters that wreak havoc on crops as they do little more than stuff themselves on leaves. They blend in with their environment- their markings look like the plants they eat.

Once the caterpillar has grown as big as it will get, it hangs upside down and becomes a chrysalis where metamorphosis occurs. Tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar have all been changed by the time a beautiful butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. Yeah, I remembered all that from high school biology.

And then I began thinking about a Christian's life cycle. We begin life like a caterpillar (okay, not the fuzzy, plump part...well, maybe some...). We blend in with the world; our goal is to acquire things (eat leaves). Then we learn about Jesus, acknowledge our sin and repent accepting Him as our Savior, and we become a chrysalis. We are changed from the inside out. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!" We become a beautiful butterfly.

Of course, there the analogy ends because the butterfly will die in a few weeks and be gone but we, as Christians, have eternal life. As I stood quietly shooting 138 photos, I noticed there were no caterpillars, just butterflies flying around a beautiful garden eating sweet nectar. It seemed like "butterfly heaven."

You can see the proboscis (the black thread-like thing) as he gets a drink of nectar!

So back to the fall color I was searching for. Some of the trees are beginning to think about changing color but I only found two trees that actually are in the beginning stages of color change. Maybe fall isn't quite here yet.

View of the World or Worldview?

This past year or so I have spent a great deal of time traveling: four cross-country road trips and numerous flights to several destinations.  Traveling generally seems to bring out the worst in people. We all have bad days when we’re tired, hungry or not feeling well and say or do something we later regret.   When I see a three-year-old child throwing a temper tantrum at midnight in the airport my assumption is the child is tired- not necessarily spoiled. In contrast, adults are supposedly more mature and better able to control their emotions so when I see a grown man throwing a temper tantrum multiple times, my assumption is he is self-centered.

Last week I was at BWI waiting to board my Southwest flight to Phoenix. Southwest Airlines doesn’t make seat assignments but has you line up, in order, according to the number on your boarding pass. That number is determined by when you check in and get your boarding pass (up to 24 hours prior to flight time).  This seems like a pretty fair system to me- and I have been in the first 30 passengers to board when I remembered to do it 24 hours in advance as well as the last ten when I forgot to do it until I got to the airport. This particular day my number was B43, which meant I was in the fourth group of 30 to board. As I was waiting for the “A” groups to board, I heard a man raise his voice at the gate agent and say, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” as he walked away. At first I thought the gate agent told him his carry-on was too big and needed to be checked.  Several more passengers boarded and I noticed the man back in line with his carry-on. When he got to the gate agent and handed him his boarding pass, the gate agent handed it back and told him his group wasn’t boarding yet, he needed to wait for the “C” group. Again the man raised his voice saying, “I need to board now so I can get an aisle seat.” With a more stern voice, the gate agent informed him he needed to wait his turn. The man stomped off and then threw his carry-on bag on the floor. A few of the passengers looked at each other with raised eyebrows but said nothing. Now the “B” group was boarding and I got in line. Yet again the man tried to board and once again the gate agent told him he needed to wait his turn and mentioned something about security. The man huffed off making comments about “incompetent employees” and “stupid rules.”  Now people were shaking their heads with looks of disbelief on their faces.

So what made this man act this way- like he was mad at the world? Is he just someone who has a ”glass is half empty” view of the world? Or is it deeper than that?

This incident reminded me of a book I’m reading- “How Now Shall We Live” by Charles Colson. He defines “worldview” as “the sum total of our beliefs about the world, the ‘big picture’ that directs our daily decisions and actions.” I believe that the man at the airport is probably a “relativist”- one who believes there is no right or wrong, just what you believe to be truth- someone who subscribes to a naturalistic worldview. He believed he was entitled to special treatment just because he desired it- that was his truth.  However, just because he believed it to be truth did not make it truth- just as sincerely believing 2+2=5 does not make it so.  Colson maintains “if you live according to a certain worldview but keep bumping up against reality in painful ways, you can be sure something is wrong with the worldview. It fails to reflect reality accurately.”  This seems logical to me- and makes me wonder why someone would keep on doing what clearly results in their being unhappy and angry a great deal of the time.  The man at the airport still looked irritated and "mad at the world" 5 hours later when I saw him at baggage claim in Phoenix.

I have no answer for why he chooses to believe what he does. But I do know that a Christian worldview says that we must love that man. Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:15) Hmmm… so while everyone was milling around the baggage carousel, talking to each other while we waited for our luggage- but steering clear of the “angry man”- some one should have talked to him, smiled at him. “Someone” could have/should have been me. Ouch!

Fortunately, I know that I will be given more opportunities to practice showing love to someone who is difficult to love. God is gracious that way- He gives us another chance when we mess up. And it is only by serving one another in love that we can reach out and influence those with a different worldview.

Maryland Bound... Day Two

What do you talk about on long car trips? Our conversations have been rather random and sometimes go off on several tangents. As we left Tucumcari, New Mexico this morning and discovering they have NO Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts or any other coffee place we discussed what would entice people to stay and live in such small towns. That led to a discussion of moving and then where in transit our boxes being shipped by Fed Ex might be... and if the Fed Ex trucks we saw might have our stuff in them...

Could this be the truck with our stuff?

We passed into Texas and commented on how "unpicturesque" the scenery was- and then off in the distance we could see a huge white cross on the side of the road. Just outside of Groom (wouldn't you love to know the story behind the name?), Texas is a 190 foot tall white cross erected by Steve Thomas who wanted to "show his gratitude to God for His blessings with a public symbol of faith." Wow! How "public" am I with my faith? I chewed on that for awhile as we drove along.

The cross is illuminated at night and is viewed by an estimated 

10 million I-40 motorists every year!

We saw a billboard for Shamrock, Texas indicating an old gas station there had been used as a set in a movie. After debating which movie, we decided to stop in Shamrock, see the old gas station and get some coffee at McDonald's (still no Starbucks!). Can you guess the movie?

~ Ramone's in the movie "Cars" was modeled after this old Conoco station! ~

Highlight the area from ~ to ~ to see answer!

As soon as we crossed into Oklahoma... "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain"... it was man against nature for control of the car. I think we drove almost entirely through the state with the steering wheel turned to the right! We were discussing wind energy (yes, this was the most intellectual conversation we had!) and how Oklahoma would be a perfect place for it when suddenly the landscape was filled with...

WINDMILLS!!!!

See how the trees are wind-swept to the left? Hence the need to keep the steering 

wheel turned to the right just to go straight!! Crazy!

We crossed into "The Show Me" state (Missouri) and ended the day in Joplin traveling a total of 599.4 miles today. After a tasty BBQ dinner at Lumpy's- a local joint tourists don't frequent in the "bad part of town" according to the desk clerk at our hotel- it's time to call it a day! Two time zones down, one to go!