Why The Title Blackbutterfly7 Was Chosen

Wednesday, I shared with a new friend how this blog came to be named “blackbutterfly.” She suggested that I post the story behind it. The following is the entire story.

In the Bible, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 speaks of the ministry of death through the letter, and the ministry of life through the spirit. The ministry of life is not written on stone, but on hearts and in minds. Verse 17 speaks of liberty/freedom, and verse 18 speaks of changing from glory to glory into the same image as God’s spirit. That word interpreted “change” in verse 18 is the Greek word metamorphoo.   It is the origin of the word “metamorphosis.”

My appreciation for butterflies increased when learning that.  Butterflies go through metamorphosis.  I live in an area where black butterflies that look like velvet appear during the summer. Some have orange on their wings. Others have white on their wings. When I think of butterflies, I think how they are used in songs.   Elton John, in the song “Someone saved my life tonight” refers to the woman he decided not to marry as a butterfly, free to fly. Then there is Deniece Williams who sings “Black butterfly.”

Around May or June 2012, I met Mindyme and Jim in the comment sections of Yahoo articles. We wanted one place to save articles, links, and material regarding the George Zimmerman case.   I opened a Yahoo Group for that purpose, but the titles “butterfly” and “blackbutterfly” were taken. Yahoo made some automatic suggestions, but I chose to add the numbers 768. Seven is the number of completion. Six is the number of man, and eight is the number of new beginnings. Butterflies are symbolic of change, transition, freedom and rebirth. The numbers seemed appropriate.

Yahoo made changes to the size of documents that could be uploaded to its group. We discussed opening a blog, and decided to use the name “Blackbutterfly.” On Word Press, that title was taken, so the “7” was added to the name and thus, Blackbutterfly7 was born on Word Press.

In the introduction of the book “Letters From The Cocoon”, Monica Ewing talks about the life cycle of egg to caterpillar to butterfly, and the importance of metamorphosis, describing it as a “rite of passage.”  The lyrics to Black Butterfly by Denise Williams tells of the rite of passage as the butterfly emerges from the cocoon;

“Morning light, silken dream to flight
As the darkness gave way to the dawn
You’ve survived, now your moment has arrived
Now your dream has finally been born.”

As the song continues, the lyrics say “a dream conceived in truth can never die.”

It’s a song of inspiration.

Until several months ago, the tagline for this blog was “strength through struggle.” People from all walks of life encounter struggle. In an interview, Deniece Williams told how the story of the struggle of the butterfly caused her to want to record the song Black Butterfly.

In the story, a little boy saw a cocoon and told his dad that it was moving. There was a butterfly inside. The little boy watched and waited; watched and waited. Finally, a small hole appeared in the cocoon. After several hours, it did not look as though the butterfly was going to make it out. The little boy ran into the house and got a pair of scissors that he used to cut a bigger opening in the cocoon. The butterfly was released, but its body was large and its wings small. It could not fly.

The little boy got his dad to come see, and his dad explained that in the struggle to break free from the cocoon, the butterfly’s body becomes smaller and its wings become larger. By cutting open the cocoon, the butterfly did not gain the strength it needed to fly, and would crawl for the rest of its life.

The moral of the story is that as we go through personal struggles, and without taking shortcuts, we become stronger. There’s a popular saying that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

How does this coincide with helping others? Like the caterpillar going through transition, we can help by making sure the environment is safe. Take for example a friend or family member going through treatment for cancer. We can help them in many ways; giving rides, preparing food, cleaning their house, being a shoulder and ear for them. What we cannot do is undergo chemo for them. They have to go through the treatment themselves.

When we find ourselves in situations that require a cocooning period, unless we go through it,  we cannot appreciate the freedom that comes from the struggle. We can take things and people for granted, and never go through the transformation where we learn about and change ourselves from within. Like the caterpillar, we will only be able to see things from a certain level, never transforming to see from a different or higher perspective.

Here’s the song that I love so much.