{"id":251,"date":"2007-05-23T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-23T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondblue\/2007\/05\/zorba-greek-and-butterflies.html"},"modified":"2007-05-23T12:15:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-23T12:15:00","slug":"zorba-greek-and-butterflies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/05\/zorba-greek-and-butterflies.html","title":{"rendered":"Zorba the Greek and Butterflies"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found this beautiful excerpt on butterflies from “Zorba the Greek<\/a>” by Nikos Kazantzakis<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I remember one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the back of a tree just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened; the butterfly started slowly crawling out, and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath, in vain. <\/p>\n

It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of the wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand. <\/p>\n

That little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience. For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the external rhythm. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found this beautiful excerpt on butterflies from “Zorba the Greek” by Nikos Kazantzakis: I remember one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the back of a tree just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration-and-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nZorba the Greek and Butterflies - Beyond Blue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/05\/zorba-greek-and-butterflies.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zorba the Greek and Butterflies - Beyond Blue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I found this beautiful excerpt on butterflies from “Zorba the Greek” by Nikos Kazantzakis: I remember one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the back of a tree just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. 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