Brian’s Reflection: Saturday, July 14, 2007


Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it
like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that
don't change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just
about like trying to milk a dead cow.

- Woody Guthrie, born on this day, 1912

I heard on the radio a couple of days ago a fascinating thing about the Blue Moon (was that the name?) butterfly. I think it is endemic to New Zealand. A bacteria was killing most of the male butterflies. They were in immanent danger of dying out as a species. But, in only five years, they changed! They evolved genetically in order to make themselves immune to the bacteria. Talk about a fast change - five years to evolve is pretty fast in the evolution department.

The Blue Moon butterfly - a great symbol for what Woody is talking about. How interesting that the butterfly is also, in Christian imagery, the symbol of Resurrection, of new life, of the blossoming into the full beauty of Life. The caterpillar has to “die”, and in death is rebirth in a more glorious form.

All faiths are about transformation, about “transfiguration”. Change is a constant. Life doesn’t “stand hitched”. Every day, our choice is “dead cow” or “new notions”. Consider the institutions, the religion, the places you learn from, the people you spend time with. If they aren’t helping you to “ride it like you find it”, ditch ‘em!

Brian+