TERESITA TANSECO-CRUZ
This website, developed from a blog, is represented by the image of a little white butterfly busily drawing nectar from the huge and shining sunflower, symbolizing the sustenance we get from God, the Source of all light and life.
The image had been inadvertently and temporarily altered during the move from blog to website. The butterfly appeared to have collapsed on the flower and was now almost comically splayed on the surface.
The scene seemed somehow familiar.
For a long time, I was like the butterfly plastered carelessly onto the sunflower. My life with God was just as flat, but it was far from funny. Languidly, I rested on him – the accommodating host whom I took pretty much for granted. I was too lazy to reach out and partake of the rich nutrients He offered me constantly. I was stuck in a lukewarm spot like the lethargic insect, missing out on the nectar and the grandeur of the whole sunflower.
God was not about to be a passive host. He nudged my curiosity and consciousness, then my desire to ” look around.” Slowly, I emerged from self-imposed confinement to discover the dazzling landscape of His company. The exploration lagged for more than two decades, thanks to my sluggish heart suffering from a disease of self-absorption. But God’s patience was relentless, his faithfulness unflinching.
The Lord allowed me to see what being sustained in His company meant. To bask gratefully in His love and compassion…to trust fearlessly in His fidelity…to plead for His inexhaustible, trademark mercy whenever my own fealty failed Him shamefully. To humbly accept His forgiveness so my remorse may help purify, rather than paralyze me. To reach deeper into His presence everywhere I turn, from flaming sunset to smoky kitchen… from moments of jubilation to days of sorrow. To treat struggles and setbacks as training opportunities for a successful run home to God when the finish line is nigh.
I believe that to be in God’s company is to have something of an awareness thermometer, with which to check habitually that He remains both source and destination of all that I think, feel, say, wish for, or do.
I ask Him daily to lead me in this vital environment of alertness and grace. I pray that I may cooperate completely with the “pacemaker” He has installed to keep my heart beating vibrantly only for him, above all else.
The picture of a fully engaged butterfly drawing rich nectar from the magnificent sunflower is back, occupying an imposing space in this website’s home page.
I am struck with wonderment and profound gratefulness that in the minor technical reinstatement of a tiny creature’s image, I find the Lord of All Creation waiting, beckoning me to rejoice for indeed, it is I who has been restored!
In His company.
