The Butterfly People

It’s been almost a month since I last posted. I was sick for a couple of weeks, then the Easter prep and festivities happened. And in the middle of it all I’m trying to make a few dollars here and there. Yes, husband is still out of work, a year now.

Anyway, I didn’t want to talk about all that, I wanted to talk about The Butterfly People.

Netflix has been suggesting a documentary for me: “The Twister Caught In The Storm.” And while I have a very strong interest in extreme weather, I haven’t had the physical or emotional strength to learn about this tragedy. Until yesterday.

So, I watched it last night. It was extremely sad, I’m glad I waited. It’s not a film to watch on a whim. It tells the story of a mile wide F-5 tornado that destroyed the city of Joplin, Missouri in 2011.They interviewed people who survived. You can see the trauma in their eyes as they recount what happened. It broke my heart. They told the stories of people who didn’t survive. Horribly sad. However, the documentary didn’t mention The Butterfly People.

It was only in my side research – you know how when you watch a movie or documentary and you do all this side research to learn more about the people, the place, and the actors? Or is that just me? It was in my side research I kept coming across The Butterfly People of Joplin.

What I found was there were stories that came out of the tragedy where children claimed to have been rescued, saved, or comforted by Butterfly People. They said that The Butterfly People would wrap their wings around them to protect them from flying debris or catch them when the tornado had sucked them out of their car and lower them safely to the ground. One teenager said a Butterly Person put its hand on her shoulder and said she was going to be ok after she had been impaled in the leg.

That was intriguing enough but when I saw a drawing made by one of the kids and saw the eyes on the wings that really got me excited.

It reminded me of this verse:

Ezekiel 10:12 “Both the cherubim and the wheels were covered with eyes. The cherubim had eyes all over their bodies, including their hands, their backs, and their wings.“

The teenager who had been comforted by a Butterly Person said when she got out of the hospital and everytime she went outside after the tragedy, butterflies would find her and land on her. She didn’t make a connection at first, but later she began to wonder if there was a connection.

They say there are images of butterflies all over the city of Joplin now. They’ve adopted butterflies as the symbol of their city. I think that’s cool.

I am so fascinated by this story. Psychologists say that The Butterfly People are a way that the children of Joplin coped with the trauma they endured. But I have a question. Why would the different children have the same coping mechanism?

I believe the kids saw the angels that God had dispatched to help them or they saw their angels as the Bible says:

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:10

There is so much we just don’t know. The workings of the spiritual side of life is just so mysterious. I have so many questions.

What do you think?

Peace.