Weekly Message from Traceymay

Dear Friend,

This morning I took a picture of the moth above.  It was on the wall of my sleeping cabin, it’s colors so striking against the weathered pine board.  I have seen these moths for years and I have never bothered to learn more about them….until today.  
This moth is the rosy maple moth and it is the smallest member of the “silk moth” family.  It’s range is extensive, so chances are you may have seen them, too.  Adult moths are laying their eggs right now on the underside of maple leaves.  When the eggs hatch, the larvae will spend its entire life either on the same tree or under the ground beneath that tree where it was hatched.  It takes 5 stages for the larvae to grow into a caterpillar and then into a moth.  The coloring seems so unusual until we remember what maple seed pods look like:

I can not even imagine how long it must have taken for this moth to develop coloration that is so well-matched to the maple seed pods.  I find some solace in knowing that life forms have been changing and adapting for over 3 billion years and we are changing and adapting, too.  Some would argue that we are so well adapted to our environment that we are altering it at our peril; I would agree.  But the changes and adaptations I am most interested in are the ways we are adapting socially, emotionally, and spiritually.  
We have made great strides in creating a civil society with laws that protect us and our environment.  We have evolved in how we imagine God and in how we imagine a world where justice and equality extend to all people.  Change is not happening as rapidly as I would like, but in thinking about how long it must have taken the rosy maple moth to evolve to so closely resemble the seed pods of their food source, I imagine that we will, in time, evolve into more compassionate beings.  This was the dream of our teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, and he did all he could to bring positive changes to the hearts and minds of people in his community.  We must keep trying, Friends; we must! 

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
                                                                                                   -2 Corinthians 5:17

I will be away for rest and renewal, beginning this coming Monday, August 7th.  I plan to go canoe camping along the Maine Island Coast Trail followed by a 5-night stay in a cabin on Otter Lake in Greenfield, NH where I will have my silent retreat.  I will travel to North Carolina with my daughters to visit my father for the final 10 days.  While I am away, there will be no weekly emails, but the zoom link for Sunday services are the same each week, so you may still attend over zoom using a previously published link.  I look forward to being back for services on Sunday September 9th.  I will be praying for all of us while I am away.

Please join me in prayer if you wish.

God of all, I thank you for all the green growing things that remind me of the strength of life.  When my worries weigh me down, remind me to turn my worries into prayers for what I hope for.  When I forget to speak with kindness, remind me to take time to apologize.  When the complaining voice in my head starts to speak, guide me back to a place of gratitude.  In the beauty of nature, I find your divine presence.  In the gold and pink of the maple moth, in the clarity of the blue sky, in the evening breeze my mind comes home to you and I am filled with peace.  Thank you. Amen.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”                            -Jeremiah 29:11

With hope for the future,

Traceymay
603-715-0990
Traceymaykalvaitis@gmail.com

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