A Butterfly

A certain man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared in the cocoon.

He sat and carefully watched several hours as the butterfly struggled to force its body through the hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress.

It appeared to have gotten as far as it could and could go no further. Distraught for the butterfly he decided to help. He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But something was wrong. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened.

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon was God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it was released from the cocoon.