One of the
best things about being out and about in the British countryside in sunshine in
the late summer is the dragonflies. They flit and dart, and mostly their sheer, luminescent wings glint a thousand times more beautifully in the
sunlight. As for some of those species that don’t possess the natural irridescent
beauty the wonder is seen in their size, like miniature bi-planes dancing in their solo aeronautical displays.
And are most are too fidgety to be photographed or identified.
Yesterday I
was watching a blue-hued specimen and trying vainly to capture an image with
the camera. For one shot the lens and insect were aligned but because of the
creature’s speed its definition still merged with the blurred background. With the help of filters this was the best I could muster:
Many of us know relationships where the other person wants to rescue us, fix us and stealthily
impose their opinion on us. For want of a better expression (and for all its potential sexist connotations) to them we are a damsel in distress. And for the most part if the circumstances or
atmosphere becomes too difficult we can set boundaries and keep our distance.
But if that person is a close relation for whom you care desperately if
something were to happen to them, boundary setting is not quite so straight forward. Just difficult, messy and painful.
I don’t know
what the technical difference is between a dragonfly and a damselfly and the ones
I have seen have never kept still enough to co-operate with species
identification. The cryptic twitter quote I made was something of a way to try and
align these insects with thinking about people in our lives who are rescuers
and do this because they know no other way and are driven by a strong need to
avoid fixing themselves.
Whether or
not the tweet made sense to anyone else is beside the point, because that doesn’t
really matter at the end of the day. The One who created us and the dragon/damselflies
knows and understands.
As if to emphasise it all I have seen a number of
dragonflies elsewhere since yesterday, on the button tin as I was doing some
clothes repairs last night
and again this morning on a cover photo on someone’s facebook profile.
If that is
God’s way of saying ‘I get you’ that is enough for me.
And it is what I want to
keep on the letter in my pocket, next to my heart.
Hi Jo,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your letter :) I too love dragonflies and damselflies. I love how God speaks to us through the beauty of His creation.
Thanks Anita, I love too how He helps us see different things & sets our hearts right.
DeleteOh, lovely! Thank you for this beautiful reflection; it has really made me think. I suspect it's going to be on my mind all day.
ReplyDeleteLove dragonflies; we get a lot of them in our garden. I'll never look at one in the same way again.
Thank you Helen - you are so lucky to get dragonflies in your garden!
DeleteI love this idea of dragonflies suddenly appearing everywhere as God's way of saying 'I get you'. Thank you for sharing! x
ReplyDeleteI love the little ways God shows up! Precious reminders :-) Thank you for linking up, Jo! x
ReplyDelete