When Hope Lands

Below the complex at Mercy Center, just outside of Saint Louis, there is a field with tall grass and a wide path mown around it.  To look quickly, the field just looks overgrown.  However, scattered among the wheat-like grasses are various flowers in hues of purples, pinks, yellows and white.  Deer hide among the grass, their frequently traveled trails cutting paths through the field.  Sometimes, the tops of their heads can be seen before their skittish fear causes them to scamper into the woods and across the brook.  Wild turkeys, cardinals and bluebirds, along with robins, hawks and various other birds frequent the field.  Snakes can be seen outside the field and heard as you walk past.  Field mice, rabbits and chipmunks live in and around the field.  Bees, brown-speckled moths and tiny blue ones land on the path.  The sweet smell of honeysuckle lures visitors to continue on their path.  The most remarkable life, however, may be the small white butterflies.  They spring up from one plant into the air, just to land on another.  Spreading pollen and seeds, they bring forth the potential of life.  Living only three weeks as butterflies, after months as caterpillars and a time of transition as they emerge into their new bodies, they themselves are new life.  One flits up, does a dance with another high in the sky, landing gracefully, like a choreographed pas de deux.  A long-standing symbol of resurrection, they land where they are needed, do what they can, then move on to another place that needs life… and joy… and beauty... and hope. 

Jenn Schaaf, Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt