Advice for those in the path of Hurricane Rita

Sometimes when things go sour in our lives, we get angered and full of dispair. We will lash out at "GOD" as the source of all our problems without realizing that he has already been hard at work providing us the tools needed for growth as people.

This earth has all the ingrediants necessary for us to not only survive but to blossom as a butterfly. Struggle and hardships are what causes us to soar.

As I sit here in Dallas among all those worried and concerned for family and friends as hurricane rita plows northward, I'm reminded of this story.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly, he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and a small and shriveled wings.

The man expected, that any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening 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 achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If "GOD" allowed us to go through life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly.

I asked for Strength---
And "GOD" gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom---And "GOD" gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity--- And "GOD" gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage---And "GOD" gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love--- And "GOD" gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors---And "GOD" gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted. I received everything I needed.

My message to all those caught up in hurricanes and other storms that happen by either in community, family, or self--to remember what happened to this butterfly--and then look for the tools "GOD" has given you to soar.

Fr. Mike