Butterfly Blessings

Tiger Swallow Butterfly at Phoenix Botanical Garden, March 2024

As the Father has sent me….so I send you ..." John 20:21

There were butterflies flitting from flower to flower at the botanical garden, and this tiger swallowtail brought me peace as it gently fluttered its pretty wings on the dainty flowers. With all the chaos around us, it is a blessing to find a refuge of peace.

This Holy Week we confront the pain of the last supper as Jesus said goodbye to his friends and gave them a mission of love. We enter the chaos and heartbreak of Jesus’ arrest, and crucifixion. Easter Sunday dawns the blessed event of Jesus’ resurrection.

As we face chaos and pain today, Jesus fills our Easter baskets with the gifts of peace and love. And he immediately calls us to bless others with them. We are on a mission to witness to Jesus’ peace not always knowing the effect. It’s like the butterfly effect, a phenomenon showing everything is connected, and small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system.

We want to predict and control the future and and people. Yet the butterfly effect shows that we cannot. The world around us is chaotic and always changing. One thing that will never change is that Jesus has entrusted us with his peace and the Holy Spirit to share his love in small ways. And we hope for a big impact for good.

Like butterflies flapping their wings looking for flowers, we are embarking on new opportunities to share Jesus’ peace and love with our neighbors with our Faithful Innovation groups. First meetings are beginning, and lead by the Holy Spirit, they will start inside our community and work to our outside neighbors finding new ways to share faith. We don’t know the impact yet. But please keep praying, loving, and sharing peace.

Our risen Lord Jesus sends us out on a mission with the peace and the power of the Spirit to fulfill it. Just like butterflies that have tiny but powerful wings, as a community of faith, let’s radiate waves of hope and peace in faith that we will make a difference. Let’s flap our wings this Easter season and support Desert Cross in carrying the peace of Christ to new places.

Butterfly blessings, Pastor Andrea