I killed a butterfly

There are things that we do carelessly when we are young. As a child I had two major crimes. I would frighten the lizards so that they would leave their tails wiggling, separated from the rest of their bodies. I would enjoy watching the severed appendage from this reptile, gruesome as it may sound today but our cat found delight in pouncing on it as well. Now, even as I write, I can picture myself as a sinister child and the face of “Chuckie” comes to mind.  Ugh!

My other crime is that of killing a butterfly. I killed a butterfly before it could come out of its shell. Ensconced in its cocoon, I would snip off the top of its resting place and pre-empt the caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly.  Though the intention was not as awful since I was innocent of such things, and thought I was freeing the worm from bondage, still now in my maturity, I feel the guilt of killing a butterfly.

There are many things we may have unconsciously done to ruin what might have been a better future. Our indiscriminate throwing of garbage to clear our homes, our cars and even our pockets of unwanted refuse contribute to the growing pile of wastes that clog up our canals, rivers, and flow into the seas that choke up the unsuspecting sea flora and fauna. The piling up of organic and non-organic wastes at our dumpsites that have literally become breeding grounds for pests, bacteria and viruses as well as a collecting pool of methane and toxic gases add up to the dying ozone layer.

The essence of the International River Summit must have stuck to me to make me reflect more on how I have curtailed the life of living things that are essential to the survival of humanity. The clearing of trees to accommodate more houses without any effort done to replace the fallen trees.  The non-segregation of our domestic waste, and the attitude of apathy towards the environment, people included.

When we really think about all that God had made, everything ends up with man.  With man being the final beneficiary of all creation.  But with it came the responsibility to rule and take care of all that God has given.  From the animals down to every plant.  My reading of Genesis has awakened me to how much God has loved man enough to allow him to name every creature and every plant.  Man was given that freedom, even in naming woman.  And as God gave Adam that privilege, He attached to it the command to be responsible for it.

When I think of the lizards that I used to bully when I was a child, I felt sorry for them but took comfort in knowing that nature allows them to grow their tail back.  But the guilt that I have over the butterflies I curtailed from living to the full remains.  For I can relate their inability to fly with people who need help and whose plea I may not have heard.  Of course not all people need financial help alone although in a third world country like ours most need money to survive. Still the happiest people belong to three-fourths of our population.  And they are not rich.  If I may believe the video on The Philippines in Eight Minutes one need not have money to really enjoy a good laugh, a generous heart, and a lift of the spirit.

But we need more time to introspect, to reflect, and to relate with the many  individuals outside our cellphones to know that there are real living people who have dreams they want to share, joys and sorrows they need ears to hear and wisdom that are ripe for the picking.

This Christmas, go beyond your cellphone. Face the person in front of you, talk, converse, relate. Listen. Someone may just be waiting for you to give your attention. This time not through a screen.

Let the butterflies come alive!

* * *

To JJ and Lilit who are celebrating their anniversary today, thanks for the joy of you both and Rio, my lovely grandnephew whose cocoon I will protect with God’s grace until he metamorphoses into God’s best.  God bless you all.