As I sit here in the sun, I smile when I think about my days on the ground, where I spent my time crawling from spot to spot, leaf to leaf. Looking back now, I know it took me forever to get anywhere, but then, not having known anything else, inching my way over the ground and the leaves and the trees was pure joy. Too, I loved munching on my leaves, and burrowing into the deep soft grass and even climbing up trees occasionally. I remember one afternoon, too, when I had a very narrow escape from a robin who probably would have chosen me for dinner had not the earth started rumbling and a dark shadow passed by far above me. That scared the robin, and he flew away. When he did, I was happy that I could continue to crawl through the grass, and munch my leaves.
Then my life changed. I was forced, without understanding why, to attach myself to the underside of a leaf instead of eat it, and I began to spin a shroud around myself. Once it was complete, everything turned dark. I sat in my prison, remembering the deep soft grass, the taste of leaves and the feel of tree bark against my belly. I wondered what I had done to deserve this, and if I was going to be able to survive the dark. I started to despair, even wondering if life, if it meant staying in this darkness forever, was even worth having.
Until the day, suddenly, I was strong enough to break out of my prison. I slowly emerged from my shroud to shake myself and sit out in the sun to stretch and dry my wings as was only natural – and then I realized that I HAD WINGS! I wasn’t sure what to think about them, at first, since I had never traveled anywhere except by crawling. I tried to nibble on some leaves beside me while I was drying, but somehow they just didn’t taste the way that I remembered them.
Once my wings were dry, I looked around me, and off in the distance I saw a tree blooming with thousands of pink flowers. I gave myself a shake, and then before I realized it, I was flying, soaring over ground in minutes where it would have taken me weeks to travel before. I was floating with the wind, gently fluttering my wings, basking in the sun. When I reached the tree, it seemed only natural to reach into one of the flowers to try the shiny water I saw pooled there. Once I tasted it, I couldn’t believe it! Why, the shiny water, which I later learned was called “nectar,” was infinitely better than leaves had ever been. Before my world went dark, I would never have believed that anything would be better than leaves, or that there was a better way to travel then crawling. In the darkness, I wanted only to return to my comfortable leaves and my crawling, but now, now, I know better. If only I could have seen when I was in the darkness – what a comfort that would have been to me.
Jeremiah 29:11 For behold I know the plans that I have made for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you a hope and a future.