What is a Butterfly?

“Tell me Sir, what is a butterfly?” asked Yellow the caterpillar.

'It’s what you are meant to become.

It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven.

It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another.”

“Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers.”

“It can’t be true!” gasped Yellow.
“How can I believe there’s a butterfly inside you or me when all I see is a fuzzy worm?”

“How does one become a butterfly?” Yellow asked pensively.

“You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”

“You mean die?” asked Yellow.
“Yes and no…What looks like YOU will die, but what’s really you will still live.”
“Life is changed, not taken away. Isn’t that different from those who die without ever becoming butterflies?”

(From the book "Hope for the Flowers" by Trina Paulus)