His House: Chapter 4 – The Butterfly | Story & Reflection

In His House: Chapter 4 – The Butterfly, the traveler wrestles with the frustration of knowing truth in the mind but not yet feeling it in the heart. Through a simple, playful lesson about chasing a butterfly, the Divine reveals the art of stillness — the kind that allows truth to land gently, rather than be chased away. This story and reflection invite you to rest, release control, and let wisdom find you when you become quiet enough to receive it.

Background music by Liborio Conti.

Transcript

Welcome to His House,

A parable of spiritual intimacy,

Written by me,

Judy Boozer.

This story is a parable,

A spiritual journey told through metaphor,

Inviting you beyond information and into experience.

Now before we begin,

I want to share a brief note about language.

Throughout His House,

God is presented using masculine pronouns.

This isn't because I believe God is male,

But because as a woman,

I wanted to capture the experience of intimacy with a being whose thought process and essence felt entirely different from my own.

To do that,

I chose the other side of the human duality,

Masculinity,

To represent the divine within this story.

My hope is that regardless of gender,

You hear beyond the words,

Into the relationship,

The longing,

And the love that the story reveals.

Each character opens a window into the soul's walk towards God's house,

A walk that moves through symbols,

Emotions,

And revelation.

To fully enter this journey,

It helps to begin not with the mind,

But with the heart.

These moments aren't meant to be hurried or analyzed,

They're meant to be felt.

So before we begin Chapter 4,

The Butterfly,

We'll take a few quiet moments together to slow down,

Breathe,

And become present,

Body,

Mind,

And spirit,

So that you can experience the story rather than simply hear it.

Take a slow breath in through your nose,

And release it gently through your mouth.

Let your shoulders soften,

Let your jaw unclench.

Let the pace of your day begin to fall away.

Feel the support beneath you,

The ground,

The chair,

The earth.

You're safe here.

You are held.

Another slow,

Deep breath in,

And out.

With each breath,

Let your awareness move closer to this moment,

Closer to stillness.

Nothing to prove,

Nothing to produce,

Just this space to be.

Now imagine yourself standing on a quiet path.

The air around you is calm,

Almost expectant.

Somewhere ahead,

There's a soft light,

A glow you can't quite see clearly yet,

But it calls to something deep within you.

This light,

This call,

Is the beginning of your journey to his house.

Breathe deeply again,

And as you do,

Let go of whatever might distract you.

The noise,

The planning,

The worries,

The waiting.

Let them rest beside the path for now.

Whisper inwardly,

I am here.

I am listening.

I am ready.

Stay with that readiness for one more slow,

Deep breath.

Now gently,

Let's begin Chapter 4,

The Butterfly.

I groaned in frustration as I put the book down.

It seemed that no matter how hard I tried,

I just couldn't get the concepts to move from my head to my heart.

It was like I was made of Teflon inside and everything just slid off.

I was never going to master them.

Discouraged,

I went to find him.

Maybe he could tell me the trick to it all,

The secret that would make this easier.

He was in the back pantry with the hallway full of stuff.

Unfortunately,

It meant I couldn't reach the pantry door,

So I just stood in the hallway and shouted to him.

It took a couple of times before his head popped around the corner.

He was covered in white powder as if a bag of flour had fallen on him and exploded.

Um,

I said,

Not knowing what to say.

His face was good-naturedly eager.

Are you okay?

Oh,

Fine,

He said.

Just cleaning up a bit.

It has to be done every so often,

Otherwise we'd have bugs and mice,

Although they're lovely creatures in their own space.

That space is not in my back pantry.

I'm glad you feel that way,

I said,

Stifling a laugh.

I never knew anyone could be that excited about cleaning out a pantry.

Did you want me for something,

He asked.

Um,

Yeah,

I mean,

Kind of.

It's not that important,

I guess.

My question suddenly seemed so insignificant,

And it was hard to ask him when his head was covered in flour.

You know,

He said,

Stepping out of the room,

It's time that I took a break.

I can finish up after a cup of tea and a cookie or two.

Would you like to join me?

I smiled,

Relieved.

I would love to.

I put the teapot on to boil and put some cookies on a plate.

His favorite tea was his own mixture of cinnamon,

Cloves,

And orange zest.

He drank it so often that just smelling it made me feel safe and comfortable.

We sat down at the table for an afternoon break.

How's the book going,

He asked.

I looked down at the table.

Um,

Okay,

I guess.

He stopped,

His cup halfway to his mouth.

One eyebrow went up.

Really,

He said.

A disgusted look passed over my face.

My shoulders slumped.

No,

I confessed.

Ah,

He sipped his tea and reached for a cookie.

I just get so frustrated.

The concepts seem easy enough to understand,

But when I try to put them into practice,

It goes kaput.

I can't seem to get it together.

I can't seem to truly understand them.

Maybe there's something wrong with me.

He started to chuckle.

Yes,

That must be it.

If it's not easy for you,

It must be because there's something wrong with you.

Tell me,

Do things usually come easily for you?

I was a little embarrassed as I considered my answer.

The truth is that a lot of things did come easily for me whenever I put my mind to it.

I could be quite determined.

I realized that I felt frustrated precisely because it wasn't easy,

And honestly,

I expected it to be.

I expected it to be because deep down,

I thought I was pretty awesome,

Maybe even better than others.

He stood up,

Walked to the front door,

Opened it,

And walked outside without saying a word.

That seemed odd,

So I followed him.

He pointed discreetly to the bee balm across the front of the house.

Do you see that?

He whispered.

In the field of bright purple flowers,

A delicate butterfly sat,

Its wings rhythmically opening and closing like a breath.

I nodded.

Try to catch it,

He said.

I looked at him just to confirm I'd heard him right.

He nodded encouragingly.

I shrugged my shoulders and stepped toward the plant,

My hands cupped and ready to cover the butterfly.

However,

As soon as I made my final move,

It fluttered away.

I pursued,

Running and snatching the air as it flew higher and higher until it was out of my reach.

Behind me,

He was laughing so hard that he had to sit down.

Finally,

I returned to where he was sitting.

I was hot,

Tired,

And frustrated.

That was the best thing I ever saw,

He laughed.

I nodded grimly.

I mean,

You were really going after that poor butterfly.

I did not appreciate him making fun of me,

So I went back into the house,

Letting the door slam behind me.

I sat back down at the table to finish my tea.

I was beginning to think that talking with him about this was a mistake.

He came in after me and sat down in his seat across the table.

Do you know why the butterfly got away,

He asked.

Because it can fly,

I said sarcastically.

Yes,

Because it can fly and because you were chasing it.

He replied,

Of course I was chasing it.

You told me to,

I said sharply.

Actually,

I told you to catch it.

You decided to chase it.

Chasing it only made it fly further out of reach.

I wondered when he was going to tell me something I didn't already know.

To catch a butterfly,

You have to not chase it.

What do you mean,

I asked,

Still irritated.

To catch a butterfly,

You make it easy for it to catch you,

He said,

His eyes still laughing.

Obviously,

I had been unclear in my first question,

Asking what he meant.

I glared at him from under my eyelashes.

If you're still and actively wait for the butterfly,

It will come to you.

Understand this is not a passive waiting,

But an active and intentional waiting.

The truth is much the same way.

If you try to chase it,

It's pushed further and further away out of your reach.

However,

When you actively wait,

Quiet and still,

It will catch you.

Suddenly,

He had my attention.

What does that mean,

I asked,

Trying to picture how that looked in real life.

Meditation and contemplation are two ways you make yourself still inside so that the truth can find you.

It's about making the mind and heart still and quiet.

If you try to understand truth with only the mind or only the emotions,

It'll escape you.

Truth is for the whole person,

Not a part of a person.

When you chase the butterfly,

You did it with all you had.

However,

You can't catch a butterfly when you haven't mastered yourself.

How can you understand truth when you haven't mastered yourself?

I thought about what he'd said as I finished my tea and cookies.

He returned to the back pantry and I returned to my book.

This time,

However,

Instead of trying to understand it with my mind,

I let myself savor the truth in the words.

I let them hang in the air while I considered them.

I thought about alternative ways those words might point to different parts of the truth,

Not just the first way I saw it.

I challenged myself to catch the butterfly of truth by making myself still enough for it to catch me.

The moment a truth caught me is still emblazoned in my memory.

It was like the sun came up and I finally saw.

That was when I knew he was telling me the truth.

That was when I started to trust him in my heart.

Before we close,

Let's pause a moment to reflect on the story.

The butterfly invites us to consider how we approach truth,

Wisdom,

And transformation.

Like the narrator,

We often try to chase understanding,

Expecting our effort to make it happen.

But this story shows us a gentler,

Deeper way.

The butterfly becomes a symbol of truth,

Delicate,

Free,

And easily lost when pursued with striving.

Yet when the narrator stops chasing and begins to still herself,

When she opens rather than grasps,

The truth finds her.

Quietly ask yourself,

Where in your life are you chasing understanding,

Approval,

Or progress so hard that it keeps slipping away?

What would it look like to practice active waiting instead,

Stillness with intention,

Making space for truth to alight on you rather than you grasping for it?

How can you bring both your mind and your heart into this stillness,

Allowing truth to become a whole person experience?

As you move forward from this story,

Try sitting quietly with an idea,

A teaching,

Or a feeling without trying to get it.

Simply hold it in your awareness and breathe.

Let it land in its own time.

You may be surprised at the clarity that arrives when you stop chasing and allow yourself to be caught.