Total commitment to the eyeballs and beyond!

White Peacock

This White Peacock is really getting into its food.  The nectar that it needs is at the base of this flower.  The flower has a long tube throat and the butterfly's proboscis must reach the base of the flower to drink nectar.

This photograph shows the proboscis as it's curling up after it has finished drinking from that flower.  It's a long tube that curls into a very tight curl when it's not drinking.

A Cloudless Sulphur is really entering into its meal in this photo and the one below.

As was this Palamedes above and this Spicebush below.

 

That's a total commitment!  Getting this deep into a flower blinds the butterfly to what is going on around it.  That's total commitment.  It's not all the time that the butterfly is this deep into its food.  It's just a bit here and there. Sometimes it doesn't need to dig so deep.  Sometimes it does.    In the photo below, we see a Cloudless Sulphur that didn't need to dig deep into the flower at all to obtain nectar.

So what about me?  How committed am I?  Am I digging deep enough?  The answer is a resounding NO, not always.  My spiritual food is available through many 'flowers', from friends, messages, prayer, quiet time, and the Bible. 

Without taking time to totally commit myself, I will not gain the amount of 'nectar' I need to sustain my spiritual life as I should.  There is a point where one can spend too much time in spiritual issues and fail at living the life God meant one to live, interacting with others, earning a living, and enjoying life.  I'm not at that point, I'm falling short of spending enough time seeking 'nectar'.  There is a point where one knows he/she should commit more. 

Like the butterfly, I need to dig deeper into reaching the true nectar to give myself spiritual food to grow in the spirit.

Serves Him Right!

Veronica bugs kill butterflies.  This one has killed a Duskywing butterfly.  I do not like Veronica bugs.  End of story.

Then sometimes it's so good to see some of the sights I find as I wander with a camera.  Especially when I wander and find a spider eating a veronica bug.  Grin.  Gloat.  Chuckle.

It's so satisfying to see 'justice'.  But it shouldn't be.

Especially when it comes to my fellow man, including those who have declared me their enemy.

I know that if I am filled with the Holy Spirit and let him direct me, crowing when disaster befalls other humans wouldn't be as bad as it is when I don't allow him to take over.  I tend to learn the hard way.

Misjudging is the cause of not thinking or seeing the real situation - or someones upbringing - or battles they deal with - or many other things.  Misjudging can be, to a certain extent, understandable from a human standpoint.

Crowing or grinning when disaster or negative things happen to someone (who has declared me to be an enemy) isn't understandable except as the carnal bad nature of myself.  It's just plain ole bad - all the way around.

The tendency to do so is also as old as the hills, almost. Solomon wrote about it in Proverbs (below).

After reading what Solomon wrote, the bad side of me says that if I learn not to rejoice when my enemy falls, God will take care of my enemy better than I can which would be much more satisfying.  But that in itself is again the bad nature of hoping for something worse than what has already happened to someone.  Human nature is pretty nasty.  At least my human nature is.

Here's hopes and prayers that I'll always pray for my enemies with a pure heart, the love of God, praying that my 'enemy' will draw close to God and that I will draw closer to God too. 

Wouldn't it be great if we all changed to the point that we'd all be close to God and find out that it doesn't take work to love one another, that it could be simply natural.  That's the reality of heaven - it won't be hard, won't be work, it will be simply our nature to love one another at all times, with the pure love of God.
 
Until then, I'll pray and trust God to change me to be what I should be and that I can learn to let God's love flow through me instead of my human nasty side blocking God's love.

Proverbs 24:17-18 KJV
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

Polyphemus Moth and Gas Pump???

Uh - why is a Polyphemus Moth hanging out at a gas pump?

Oh yes, it was quite a surprise to find this huge moth with a 6" wingspan at the gas pump in the afternoon. 

We find Polyphemus moths quite often at our moth light in the early morning, a bright light with a white sheet underneath it.  Moths are attracted to light and the white sheet reflects the light, creating a huge white glow.  We are able to photograph these beauties by picking them up off the sheet, placing them on a piece of bark, and taking a picture.  Then we can allow them to fly away again.

But in the middle of the afternoon?  Yes, it flew in to the bright light at night but it sure hung around for a long time at a busy gas station.  Did no one notice it?  I noticed it simply because I notice moths and butterflies quickly.

I placed her in a brown paper bag for a few hours, she laid some eggs, and I could release her to finish laying eggs in nature.  I could then raise some moths from the eggs she laid.

As I thought about it, I realized that once again I was on the verge of taking a gift for granted.  It isn't every day I find such a beauty in such an unexpected place. 

Uh - thinking of unexpected places to find gifts, I realize tonight that once again, I have often been given a certain gift but not one that I appreciate as much as this beautiful moth. 

I was given the 'gift' of:

• 
  
  An opportunity to exercise patience
• 
  
  An opportunity to exercise self-control
• 
  
  An opportunity to control my tongue (fingers on the keyboard)
• 
  
  The opportunity to pray for others who would not expect me to pray for them and who I wouldn't, in my human self, think to pray for ...

The question is, am I seriously praying for the good of others who despitefully use me?  It's always the time for a self-check and always time for a God check.  I pray that God will 'try my reins and my heart' and reveal to me where my attitude is not in alignment with Him.  He wants the best for me and those who see things differently than I do.  It's not about me.  It's about God.  It's about Jesus.  It's about the Holy Spirit working in me.  I pray that I will step back and allow the Holy Spirit to work in me.

{Even now as I preview this to publish, I realize that I still haven't taken time to pray not just for others but for myself.  I need prayer worse than others - the fact that I wrote this and still hadn't prayed about the situation is proof in fact!}

Psalm 26:1-3

Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

Matthew 5:44-45

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Luke 6:27-29

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also