My first time ever seeing a firefly was just last year. I still remember it vividly. I was standing outside Pastor Lauren's house when a flash of light darted through the air. Then another. And another. It felt like pure magic.
We live in a world where bugs light up?!?! There is something about that simple truth that fills me with awe.
This past evening, after leaving church, I decided to head to Tower Grove Park. Someone had told me that one of the best places to see fireflies was near the native plant gardens in Tower Grove Park. I wandered through the park for about an hour, watching what must have been a hundred fireflies blinking among the flowers and trees. Standing there, surrounded by wildflowers and dancing lights, I found tears welling up in my eyes.
The world is so incredibly beautiful. And I also know it is deeply painful.
So many people I love are hurting. People are suffering, losing benefits or access to the care they need. Families and individuals are struggling simply to make ends meet. My prayers have been filled with heartache these days, and I know there is no way for any one of us to fill every gap or heal every wound. Yet even in the midst of all that, I cannot deny what I witnessed and what I witness everyday. The world is beautiful, too.
Love still reaches into every corner of creation. Blessings and gratitude remain abundant if we are willing to notice them. Wonder has not disappeared. Beauty has not given up on us. And I still believe that love is the most powerful force in this world.
So I want to invite you into a simple practice. What makes you stop in your tracks? What fills your eyes with tears because what you're seeing feels almost too beautiful to be real? Where does your heart remember that life is, despite everything, astonishing? It is important that we know where those places are. It is important that we make time for them. Because part of bending the arc of the world toward justice is refusing to let despair have the final word. It is relishing in joy. It is believing in love. It is slowing down long enough to notice the beauty that has been surrounding us all along.
Be amazed by this strange, beautiful, delightfully ridiculous world we inhabit. After all, we live in a world where tiny bugs light up the paths beneath our feet. How cool!
With Love and Wonder,
Pastor Eli