Hibiscus

I was cleaning out my closet and I came across a transparent bag with an item carefully wrapped between sheets of white tissue paper. I opened it and smiled.

It was a small gift I bought for myself before one of my departing flights from Honolulu.

Inside the tissue paper was a lithographic print of a red hibiscus flower. Something to remind me of my time on the island. It was a macro photograph focused on a strong stem jutting upright with effortless assertiveness, yet separating itself from the delicate petals that fell downward. {The piece is by photographer John DeMello, not shown here}
When I first arrived in Hawaii, I remember praying on bed one day when a particular vision came to mind. It was an image of a colorfully winged butterfly that landed on a hibiscus. It was so striking and clear that the image stayed with me for some time.When I later talked about the image with some church friends I came to find that the hibiscus is the State Flower of Hawaii. Stained glass butterfly wings had been a symbolic image I had seen in a striking dream a couple years ago, and taken together, the butterfly landing on a hibiscus had come to represent a period of rest and healing for me in Hawaii. The vision was a beautiful gift of things to come.As I unwrapped the layers of tissue paper in my hands, I paused to reflect on the many ways I've grown and changed because of my faith to fly and live across the Pacific. As I now decide where in my home to place this lovely lithographic image, I look forward to being re-reminded time and again of the on-going gifts of Hawaii.

{In the vision, the butterfly never flew away nor left the flower. It landed. And stayed.}{top photo by mckenna7773}