Mission...Purpose...Calling...Hmmmm

I watched some butterflies free themselves from their cocoons this morning. Heady stuff. Put me in thinking mode for the rest of the day. They know what to do. They know how to work it just right to free themselves from the chrysalis and they know just how to work their wings to get them dry and then they go right to work. I started looking beyond the butterflies at all the flowers and plants and trees and other forms of animal life that were around me. And it struck me that they know, most of them just coming knowing what to do. There are some forms of animal life that have to be mothered a bit, but for the most part, it takes very little mothering or training for most wildlife to fulfill the measure of their creation. We are not the same. We come knowing nothing. We come with our memories of any past understanding completely erased and we are helpless. But, because of my beliefs, I know that we are expected to not only fulfill the measure of our creation, but more. We are to complete a mission. We are to leave a legacy. We have gifts and talents that are uniquely bundled in each of us that precipitate a divine calling which we are to discover and then engage in, with all of our hearts. Today, I find this both empowering and overwhelming. A large part of me just wants to be the butterfly. I just want to be a life form that comes knowing what to do and how to do it. I just want to live my three days, frantically working the task that I was sent to do and then go back to my creator and rest easy, having reported that I did all that He required of me. But I do not have this option. I have been given a testimony of truths that do not allow me to simply exist. I must seek and learn and discover and grow and then offer something to others. I must serve and I must love and I must use my gifts to allow others to make the most of their gifts as well. This is hard work. Today, I heard SO many people commenting on the effort that the butterfly must put forth in order to free himself from what binds him and keeps him from fulfilling his purpose. We are no different, we just have to struggle against a different kind of binding force in order to free ourselves and fulfill the demands made upon us by the Creator. My question tonight is just how much do I have to do alone? The butterfly cannot have help. If any outside force tries to give him aid, he will fail in his purpose, he will not have the strength he needs to go to work on his assigned task. But I pray that we are not like the butterfly. Tonight, I am battling alone, and I am losing. It is my prayer that, just as we are different in the way that we are born and progress, than the other life forms on the planet, I pray that we are allowed to have aid and assistance in breaking ourselves free of what binds us. And I want to be free.