Atala Butterfly, Long Key Nature Area, Davie, Florida, May 9, 2013

While the Atala Butterfly isn't on the Endangered species list, 50 years ago it was thought to be extinct. Habitat devastation and the exploitation of the only food source for its caterpillars, the Florida Coontie, as a native and easy source for starch, had taken its toll. The current use of the Coontie as a landscape plant and renewed interest in Florida's butterflies as well as captive breeding programs have helped bring this beauty back. I saw my first just last week, a mother laying her eggs, while nearby, another Coontie served as home for a dozen Atala caterpillars. It was an amazing sight! I kept walking around her, snapping picture after picture, trying to capture her color. 

So God created humankind in his image,in the image of God he created them;male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

South Florida provides a microcosm of how poorly humankind has responded to God's call to steward creation. To have dominion over something, in the language of Scripture, is not to exploit or feel free to extinct a species, but to care as one given the authority under the authority of God to provide for its welfare. From the near destruction of the Everglades, to the near extinction of a number of bird species for the sake of a few feathers for lady's hats, it took the rallying cry of some amazing people to re-ground us in God's call. Nearly every natural preserve I have visited in Broward County on my photo walks these past months was slated for development until a person or group stepped and fought to set it aside for preservation. 

And I am thankful for their work. I imagine many people thought that these ecological pioneers  were on the wrong side of progress, development, job creation and economic prosperity. A nature preserve generates no income to lower taxes and few jobs to boost the employment rate. Their vistas could serve for million dollar homes on gorgeous lots behind gates and fences. 

Walking around with a camera, slowly and intentionally, often doubling back to reflect on a new view, a new angle, seeking inspiration,  continues to open my eyes to the presence of God's creative hands in sunlight reflecting of the wings of a golden dragonfly or the shimmer off a pond or the complex textures of a wildflower. 

We worship not the creature, but the creator. And these wilderness areas and natural preserves are the first and grandest cathedrals to me. 

Let us pray...Lord of all that is, your creation abounds with the reflection of the wonder of your being. Teach us to be good stewards of all that you have entrusted to us, its water and sky, its land and all the creatures that inhabit it, for you hold us accountable for this sacred responsibility. We ask for wisdom and courage to do what is right in this.

Amen!