Brown Butterfly Creation

 I am reading the excellent book Eve and Adam: Discovering the Beautiful Balance by Melinda Wheelwright Brown.  She shared  a story that I love.  When she was 12 or 13, she was in a YW class.  Her teacher was telling them of a scientist that had recently died.  He had been the world's expert on butterflies and had devoted his life to studying and learning about them.  The teacher showed them pictures and talked about some of this scientist's discoveries.  

"And then she asked us to imagine the scene of this man, newly arrived in heaven, having his first interaction with our Father there, humbly and earnestly saying, "I have spent my entire life learning everything I possibly could about your magnificent creation, the butterfly."  And then, almost begging, "Please, now tell me everything else there is to know!"  

Picturing that man's interview with God--his gratitude and anticipation--captured my spiritual senses completely.  To that moody, pubescent teen, those feelings that rushed over me evoked complete awe at the magnitude and magnificence of God's creations.  That moment was a life changer:  it permanently altered the way I appreciated and interacted with the natural world."

Brown then explains that she is reminded of these feelings and that experience every time she reads 

D & C 59: 18-20, 

"Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the ^abenefit and the ^buse of man, both to please the eye and to ^cgladden the heart;

19 Yea, for ^afood and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to ^bstrengthen the body and to enliven the soul.

20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to ^aexcess, neither by extortion. 

 

 

Our Heavenly Father has given us so much.  And he created this beautiful, magnificent world to bring us joy and to allow us to have a mortal experience.  

It reminds me of this song:  Heavenly Father Loves Me:

Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky
Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by
Whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Father created for me
He gave me my eyes, that I might see, the colorful butterfly wings
He gave me my ears, that I might hear, the magical sound of things
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart. I thank him so reverently
For all this creation, of which I'm apart

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me. 

LESSONS LEARNED:  Heavenly Father loves us.

He created a beautiful, magnificent, diverse world to make us happy and give us a mortal experience.

We should learn about and express gratitude for his magnificent creations.

Some day we will be reunited with Him and our knowledge of and gratitude for His creations will enrich that reunion.