Miracle

This morning we were privy to a miracle.

I had a sinking suspicion something was wrong with the captive monarch caterpillar Jane brought to work for us last Thursday, after glancing in his direction while preparing breakfast for the boys and noting he was curled lethargically on a milkweed leaf, in nearly the same position as last night when I checked on him before bed. Adam and I made the announcement that it appeared our caterpillar had died sometime during the night. Collin and Aaron, very upset by this news, began crying.

Upon closer examination, I noticed that the caterpillar was still moving, although he appeared very sick. We gently carried his jar from the top of the pantry to the kitchen table, opened the screen lid, and carefully began removing the leaves. Since we couldn’t get him to uncurl after multiple desperate attempts, we decided to put him back in his jar, on a solitary tender milkweed, and let him die in peace. The boys were devastated.

Minutes later, as I was clearing the table, our little caterpillar had writhed off his leaf and was busy shedding his exoskeleton. Within 10 minutes, he was completely surrounded by a gold rimmed, green chrysalis…unfortunately, at the bottom of his jar instead of safely hanging from the screen. We debated for the better part of the morning if we should take measures into our own hands. I seriously considered using a suturing kit from Chandra to carefully insert a stitch at what I determined was the top of his chrysalis, so he could hang from the screen. In the end we decided to trust…that Mother Nature had everything under control. We’ve since propped the jar on its side, so the chrysalis has less lateral pressure and the butterfly has adequate room to safely emerge once his metamorphosis is complete.

Perhaps the caterpillar holds the answer to our deepest question “Why?”. In its caterpillar form, the creature is extremely limited. It relies exclusively on milkweed for sustenance and has very limited mobility. We assumed our caterpillar was dead…and I guess he was. Without this death, the butterfly, who can now consume nectar from any flowering plant and travel thousands of miles, is impossible.

We’d be wise to listen and learn…and to remember it is the same for us. We need to shed the confines of all we know and surrender to the unknown in order to receive our wings.