Butterflies and Sparrows and Pennies

There were so many butterflies at the reserve that it was hard to walk at first. We didn't want to run into a butterfly or step on one accidentally. Quickly, though, we realized that we had to walk somewhere, and it was up to the butterflies to get out of the way.

Sadly, there were some butterflies on the ground that looked dead. Maybe they had flown too far or got dehydrated or had a full-speed butterfly/human collision. Or maybe they were just at the end of their very short lifespan (the average monarch only lives 2 months; many of these had already lived 5 months and were hanging on just long enough to lay eggs).

These butterflies are mainly still alive, but it's hard to tell:


I wanted to pick up a dead butterfly and bring it home, but even the dead ones are considered protected species and it is illegal to pick up the dead ones. How funny that 15 people a day die in Mexico from drug violence, but the dead butterflies are protected by national law and respected by all the visitors.

Which made me think of a Bible verse:
Matthew 10:29-30
29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[a]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Souvenirs here, like throughout Mexico, were not sold in official shops but instead hawked by Mexican locals for a few pesos. Namely, 5 small monarch magnets for 10 pesos (80 U.S. cents). Kind of like 2 sparrows for a penny, huh? And I could not imagine a God so omniscient that He would know when every one of them fell to the ground. Nor why He would want to bother to mind these things since the Butterflies die so soon after being born.

Maybe I just needed a good reminder as to how important we are to God.