In the pictures above of a butterfly, the photos taken from the outer and inner aspects its body give two different images. They do not correspond. I found this curious and inviting to reflect on.
A passage from the first book of Samuel, in the Old Testament of the Bible came to my mind, when the prophet Samuel was about to choose a person to anoint him as the King of the nation of Israel. The prophet having looked at Eliab, noticed his appearance and height of his statue, and was inclined to consider him to be chosen. But God's voice he sensed within him was, ' ..for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart' (I Samuel 16:7). It was this which helped the prophet to wait for the youngest of the sons of Jesse, David to be brought from tending the sheep in the farm. David was chosen to be the king.
The outside provides an appearance. The inside guards the truth about a person.
David, having been a shepherd, had made a prayer about himself as stated in the book of Psalms 139:23-24: ' Search me, O God, know my heart; try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting'. His intent to live from within was his choice. David longed to live with an interiority of truth and openness.
The truth within is what would be reflected in our attitudes and communications.
Jesus of Nazareth once said: ' But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man..' (Matthew 15:18-19).
In the photos above, the photos of the butterflies brought this message to me in a surprising way. The appearance of the first two photos brings two different hue of colours because of the light conditions. The outward appearance is variable and can be modified.
The third photo of the inner side of the butterfly is darker and different in appearance.
The inside is not often represented in the outside.
The inside matters!
It can be a reservoir of abundant goodness or a hiding place for all that is unwholesome!
The instruction Jesus offered to His followers about prayer had a message to highlight the need to make an inner journey to know oneself and experience the presence of God within; ' But you, when you pray, go into your inner room and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will repay you' (Matthew 6:6).
I feel encouraged by what the Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 4:16: 'Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day'. In the mid seventies of one's biographical age, the truth about the body ailing with age and the inner self glowing with hope and charity are experiences to behold!
The social structure around us is one of glorifying the outer person by glamourising the appearance through fashions and designs of attire.
The truth about the inner person resides in secret within. That is what forms a person.
To consciously know ourselves as we are inside, is the beginning of the journey to live outwardly as a radiance of the true self that we are inside.
In the recent weeks, I felt the need to send messages to renew contacts with people from whom I felt distant! I feel relieved with the growing awareness about the shadows residing within me. The journey is to reduce the dichotomy between who I am inside and who I appear outside!
There is life within that needs nurture, for it to be from where, I live outwardly! The integrated inner life is strength giving!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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