Cocoon Colors Like Easter Eggs!

Silk moth cocoons (Bombyx mori) are cool. 

A friend sent me some eggs of silk moths a few weeks ago.  They hatched and I fed the caterpillars.  And fed them and fed them and fed them and fed them - my poor mulberry tree.

After weeks of me cutting leaves and cleaning rearing containers, they finally started making their cocoons.  They produce silk from spinnerets underneath their heads.  Using from 1 - 3 THOUSAND feet of silk, they make a small cocoon around themselves.  Inside its cocoon, the caterpillar changes into a pupa.  A few weeks later, the adult moth emerges.

The wonderful surprise was the range of colors of cocoons.  We didn't keep them on the table.  Some look too much like Cheese Puffs. 

As I enjoy the colors of cocoons, I thought about the colors of many things that I enjoy.  From flowers to M&Ms to kittens to cocoons, color is a wonderful gift from God. 

As I enjoy the colorful arrangement of cocoons, I am reminded of a song by D C Talk "Color Blind".

Part of the lyrics are:

"Pardon me, your epidermis is showing
I couldn`t help but note your shade of melanin
I tip my hat to the colorful arrangement
Cause I see the beauty in the tones of our skin
We gotta come together, and thank the maker of us all"

When I was in high school, race problems were so bad that we had 'riot days' when many students stayed home. These days were announced by other students in advance. Some students would start racial fights on those days. Mother and Daddy always allowed me to stay home.  How sad it is that too often people use color to hurt and judge others.

Our children went to a local elementary school for six years before attending middle school.  Although the school had a good percentage of black students, our children simply accepted the fact that people have different colors of skin.  They grew up without a TV and were blessed not to be exposed to racism. 

After the first week at the middle school, one of our children came home and asked, "Why do white people hate black people?"  Oh dear.  How do you answer that question?  I can't remember exactly how we answered it.  We did talk about differences of skin color and differences in people.  We discussed that differences aren't due to race but to the way children are brought up by their parents or community.  We discussed that children that 'hate' people of another color are taught that by others - it is not normal.  It did strike me that in the elementary school, our children didn't notice a racism issue.  Within a week of entering a new school, they were asking questions about what they were hearing from other students.  

Our world is a broken world. 

I wonder what colors of skin we'll have in heaven, covering our new bodies?  What color will I be?  Will my skin be the same color?  Lighter?  Darker?  Will we all be one color?  I can't imagine everyone being one color.  One day I'll know ...

As has been said, "God created one race - the human race".  I'm thankful for the 'colorful arrangement' of skin colors. 

Genesis 1:26-28

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.