Puriri Moth (Aenetus virescens) ~ The Eternal Weight of Glory

New Zealand boasts many strange and beautiful creatures.  The most beautiful are difficult to find.  One must know where to look.  Let me tell you about the most beautiful moth I have ever seen, called Puriri. 

Puriri lives for 6 years as a ‘grub’.  She tunnels through tree bark, all alone, in the cold and the dark.  During this time she is hunted by hungry parrots and other animals who tear at the bark in an effort to consume her.  And for all of these 6 years she survives by eating a meager meal of wood.

Finally, Puriri emerges with a pair of magical, green-marble wings.  These magnificent wings stretch 150mm—she is New Zealand’s largest moth.  Yet the freedom does not last long for her.  After being released from her prison, she lives for just 48 hours.  After 6 years of struggle, Puriri only gets to enjoy her wings for 2 days. 

I have told the story of the Puriri moth to many people, and these people usually tell me that the lifecycle is not fair.  Perhaps you have felt like the Puriri: we struggle and struggle just to survive and we only see a brief moment of freedom.  Indeed, the struggle and pain and darkness of our existence often seem to outdo the fleeting moments of joy.

There is much we can learn from the Puriri moth.  The Christian paradigm inverts this life cycle.  In this ideology, we have just one moment of suffering, followed by an eternity with glorious wings.  The Bible depicts it this way:

“We do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4v16&17)

While I was studying theology in Oxford, I once asked my mentor how we could make sense of all the darkness and pain in this world.  His answer was simple: On the day that Jesus wipes every tear away from every face, we won’t even remember what ‘sorrow’ means.  In the light of His glorious face, all darkness will melt away.  All pain and sadness and confusion will dissolve like snow.

“Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” –Isaiah 51v11

Let us look forward to our promise: an eternity with wings.



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