Let me tell you about the butterflies and the bees

Don’t you ever wonder how things have a way of working out? Some Chinese philosophers of the 4th century B.C. perceived the law of the universe to be based upon certain cosmic principles. Abbreviated, necessary contrasts that jibe with our existence. You know...yin and yang, characterization of the relative dualities of nature, like female and male, shadow and light, or like winter and summer.

The story of creation is very explicit. God created all things, each with its own purpose. We must trust in this and appreciate the natural order of things even if it seems so wrong sometimes. It’s the classic saying, "Man proposes but God disposes."

On the order of things, the universe as "made up of individuals (subsequently) occurring in fixed natural kinds (species). Each individual has its built-on specific pattern of development and grows toward proper self-realization as a specimen of its type. Growth, purpose and direction are thus built into nature."

Why do some butterfly species die after only 21 days flying about? They live seven days as an egg eating calamansi, camote or kangkong leaves, then became larvae, that itchy caterpillar, for seven days also feeding on food plants, then as pupas where they metamorphosize sleeping beauties for at most seven days, then bursting out. Seemingly aware that they have a limited time to live, these butterflies look for a mate – lay eggs again and the cycle is repeated just before dropping dead on the ground. Why do they exist? Little as I know about them, they make me happy.

Did you ever observe that teeny-weeny spider weaving its web behind your bookshelf? These spiders always get the raw end of the deal. Because of their hideous exterior and their propensity to creep around dark places, these spiders suffer death due to their unpleasant reputation of dirt, dust, eeriness and poison. Thanks to the movie Spider-man, my godson bought a book on these tiny creatures. It read that only 30 of the 40,000 species produce venom lethal to man and these poisonous ones avoid human contact, attacking only when they feel threatened. Yet, by either habitat destruction or the use of pesticides, we kill these small arthropods disallowing them to take their natural course. Like all the species in this world, spiders are here for a specific purpose. First, they are the best source of silk. Scientist have long studied the components of spider silk in the hope that they can mass-produce silk of superb quality. Second, spiders are aggressive predators of insects. This makes them an efficient biological pest control agent in agriculture. So yes, even spiders have their own role in maintaining the equilibrium of things.

And how about those bees? My Encarta says, "They are flower-feeding insects... dependent on pollen as a protein source and on flower nectar or oils as an energy source." It is the adult females that collect pollen to feed their larvae. As they do, these females unavoidably lose pollen in transferring from one flower to another, becoming agents of pollination important to the flowers. Hurray for the law of nature! The bees, because they are flower-feeding insects, help the flowers by spilling some of their "stolen" pollen in the reproductive structures of other flowers. This interdependence is referred to as "mutualism, an association between unlike organisms that is beneficial to both parties." Talk about equilibrium.

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Two books, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho and Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, are two world bestsellers pocketbooks that understand the soul and the laws of nature. Both have inspired me to believe that, indeed, all of creation is for a function and nothing happens by chance. Everything happens for a reason. Siddhartha is a short lyrical story, quite sad because the search of oneself and purpose is never easy. Buddha’s early concept of the world was that he saw it as one chain, linked together by cause and effect. The Alchemist, on the other hand, is the story about following your dream and how the "world conspires" to help you acquire what you really desire. The interaction of all created things is hard to ignore.

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When things work out as I hoped, I think of them as small miracles. And, these they are. As the sustainer, God planned everything with purpose and balance. Isn’t it that in Noah’s ark, there was an equal number of male and female animals? There too were an equal number of preys and predators. God is omniscient and omnipresent. The confidence in this certainty allows me to experience profound peace. It leads me to trust that everything will be all right.