My 8 year old daughter asked me last night, “Why is it called Butterfly? What does butter have to do with it? Who came up with that name?” I had to admit I didn’t know. But it made me think of how often we use words or phrases without paying much attention to what we’re actually saying.
For instance, I heard a familiar phrase today as if for the first time: “It came to pass.” It’s commonly found in the bible, as a kick-starter for some sort of story or allegory. Hmmm… to pass. That means something was temporary, a happening. Something was just moving on through, as time passes by. After all, the phrase isn’t “it came to stay.”
It speaks of the temporary nature of everything. The universe is constantly changing. You and I are constantly changing. You can’t hold onto to anything, just like you can’t cling to water. Everything is going to pass – even this life.
This keeps me in the present moment. I’d do well to enjoy this now, to be present with this now, because in the next moment it will have passed… and something new will emerge.
I’m in pain? It will pass. What is it like? How does this experience touch me and teach me?
I’m in joy? It will pass. What is it like? How can I appreciate it without clinging to it? What does it reveal?
The only thing – absolutely the only thing – that doesn’t pass is the consciousness with which we watch everything passing. That’s the Source. There’s only One Presence that witnesses it all, and it’s our True Nature.
Otherwise, we’d have no One reading “it came to pass…”
