One June morning, these ugly little bugs crawled up out of the lake onto shore.
Nasty looking creatures, they would emerge from the water, and then just sit someplace dry for awhile. Until their backs split open and out pops a dragonfly head.
Over the next twenty minutes or so, the young dragonfly struggles to free itself from the empty carcass of its former existence and begin a new life.
It’s an awkward, ugly process. But once the dragonfly is free, then its wings start to grow. Surprisingly quickly, the delicate, gossamer wings unfold.
When the wings catch the sunlight, the subtle, intricate beauty is illuminated.
And then the young dragonfly spreads those magnificent wings to dry…
And poof… it’s gone. Living behind this ugly, wrecked shell.
It’s amazing, how something so beautiful can come from something so ugly.
Maybe that’s what’s going on with the world right now, particularly with racism in America. Before the pandemic and the spark of George Floyd’s death, racism in America was hideous.
It’s still hideous, but now, maybe something new is emerging.
The process is still ugly now, ungainly, awkward and painful.
But maybe, just maybe, something beautiful is coming.
Maybe all this pain and suffering, all this grotesque ugliness is part of the process of humanity’s development into something new, something better.
That’s a nice thought.
42 Musings 