BUTTERFLY

Sometimes, I wonder: What if the loving God – the all-merciful Father- had ‘rescued’ His only Son, Jesus Christ, on that night in the Gethsemane Garden?

That night, Jesus was in great trouble. He had foreseen the trauma that was to come upon Him. He was frightened, lost all His courage… There was that battle within him: to face the problems or to run away from them. He was confused; He was in terrible pain… and, He was lonely in His entire struggle. Even His loyal disciples had gone off to sleep, leaving Him alone in His hour of need.

“Father, do away this test from me; but, if it is Thy wish, Thy will be done.” The Bible says, that after pleading His Father this way, Christ had sweat blood! And, with that, He had risen up with all the courage in the world - freed from fear, pain and confusion - and come out from his hiding to face the bloodthirsty mob. The Father had not come forward to rescue his only son. He wanted his son to face His problems head on… and, grow from the experience… become tough, become mature… and, above all, come out victorious.

Had the Father rescued His son that night, there wouldn’t have been the ‘Passion of the Christ’… there wouldn’t have been the crucifixation… and, no resurrection. There was a prophecy to be fulfilled… Only, the Christ had to fulfill it… by carrying His own cross in this world.

This was how the Father loved His son. When the Son realized it, a silence came upon… The battle ended… So that, what was written could come true !

Some years ago, I encountered a similar situation of confusion, fear and loss of courage. I did not know how to solve my problems; I had lost all my courage… and I was filled with panic. I had spoken to many of my good friends and well-wishers… and, I had sought the help of some therapists and counselors. Though everything had helped me, I was still confused, scared and hopeless. I wanted someone to bail me out of my troubles… I wanted a redeemer, a Salvador – some one who could mercifully do away the test from me.

But, that never happened. What happened was this:

That early morning, I had been to my friend Manjeet’s place, to unload all my problems. I was unable to sleep the night before. And, I had landed that morning at Manjeet's place hoping against hopes… I was hoping for a miracle… perhaps in the form of a bailout from Manjeet. Manjeet spoke a little that morning; in fact nothing. He only switched on his PC, and showed me a colourful slide. In this slide, a man was shown watching a butterfly emerging out of the cocoon. The butterfly was emerging very, very slowly. The man could feel the struggle and the pain the butterfly was going through co come out. He was moved to see the painful and slow process of birth… and, he really wanted to help the butterfly to come out painlessly, and fast. He wanted to rescue it from its pain and struggle.
So, he took a scissor and gently cut open the cocoon, so that the butterfly could come out with least pain and fast. It did. However, that butterfly had to live for rest of its life crippled, unable to fly.

The slide ended with its moral. In life, often, we want to help others, save them from their troubles, bail them out of their pains. In our eagrness to help, like that man, we take the scissor, and cut open the cocoon… so that the butterfly can emerge without any pain, and fast. What we forget is, that the problems and pain in life are God’s way of making us come out stronger, beautiful and wiser. It is the natural process and we all have to go through it with a sense of reverence and acceptance. Yes, it is the Nature’s way of making us beautiful butterflies in life.

With out a word, Manjeet, my friend, had helped me come out of my own cocoon. I came out of my hiding to face my own bloodthirsty mob. The fear was gone, and the sky was clear. The strength had come back… and, I could see the light at the dark end of the tunnel.

Thanks Manjeet for not rescuing me that early morning.

But, didn’t you?




GERALD D’CUNHA