Life Is Beautiful

Life is beautiful!

There is simply no more eloquent manner of stating the obvious. The problem is, this fact is not obvious to all.

The shooting which occurred last week at Umpqua Community College of Roseburg, Ore., makes this plain enough. Motivation for such actions are incomprehensible for most people. This is nothing new.

There was a problem in the Garden of Eden with an evil, disenfranchised being who saw creation in a perfect state -- free of death or any curse, and, while beholding such magnificent beauty, could think of nothing better than to find a way to mess up life.

He lacked authority to carry out his devilish plan so he went after a man willing to misappropriate authority and grant death an entrance into the universe. Mankind has been experiencing the effects ever since.

On Sept. 24, my family and I happened along a Springdale street we had never traveled before in search of moving boxes. My daughter saw a wounded butterfly bouncing along the pavement. She immediately recognized this creature as a Monarch Butterfly, her favorite. The Monarch was trying to achieve flight, but a portion of its wing bent backwards. Sadly it could no longer fly. My wife gently scooped up the wounded Monarch and placed it in our daughter's waiting palm.

Perhaps the Monarch instinctively realized Dawn-Angel was trying to help or maybe drawing moisture out of her skin. In either case there was interaction.

"I've always wanted to see a Monarch up close," Dawn-Angel said.

She was delighted with the experience. I recalled seeing her run and follow the flight path of other Monarchs. Capture was never her intent. Her desire was all about observation. She appreciates the beauty of life manifested in the orange and black colors of the Monarch

"It's tickling me. Its feet tickle my skin," Dawn-Angel said.

Along the journey to our makeshift butterfly hospital, an exchange of affection occured between the two.

"It keeps kissing me."

Dawn-Angel devoted herself to caring for the butterfly. At home, she held the butterfly next to one of her mother's flowers in an effort to provide it an opportunity to drink some nectar. The hurting butterfly was brought into our home and welcomed as part of our family for what we knew would be a short time. Dawn-Angel named the butterfly, which she was convinced was a girl, "Tiger Lily."

Unfortunately there were severe limitations for what we could do on behalf of this delicate creature and over the next two days the Monarch began to weaken. Occasionally, we saw the butterfly furiously flapping its wings but unable to regain the power of flight it once exercised naturally. When I returned from a football game at Huntsville on Sept. 25, Dawn-Angel shed some tears. She had taken the butterfly outside to get some sunshine and the Monarch had stopped moving.

Death is a fact of life but I hate death for its rude imposition upon living things and the resulting separation of cherished relationships. Mankind is no longer able to do what we were designed to do -- live forever. Yet, the Bible teaches this is a temporary situation and the hour is coming when this willful misappropriation of authority that introduced death into our world is over-ruled by a greater authority. The way to benefit from that restoration is to establish a relationship with the Creator, who fashioned life beautiful, and His Son, Jesus, who willingly took death upon Himself that He might defeat its authority once and for all eternity.

As my family and I prepare to leave northwest Arkansas ,there are many things we are thankful over. The communities of Farmington, Lincoln and Prairie Grove were great places to work and be a part of. There are too many people to list when acknowledging value in relationships. What I want people to remember is just add Jesus and any situation, which might present a challenge, can be improved. Hope can be found in hopelessness, faith in the midst of faithlessness, peace in a crisis, healing amongst pain; and even when hate manifests, love can be discovered.

Ask and receive help, the first step is up to each individual.

MARK HUMPHREY CONCLUDES HIS 4-YEAR CAREER AS A WRITER FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER WITH THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ISSUE. THE OPINIONS ARE THE AUTHOR'S OWN.