On Wings of Wonder

Image: Sagar Kulkarni @sagarkulkarni/ Unsplash

Have you ever felt the whisper of butterfly wings nearby? It is a soft mystery that evokes wonder and delight. It is poetry written on a wingspan. The butterfly is known as a powerful symbol in myth and religion.

In early Christianity butterflies were a symbol of the soul – of spiritual transformation, conversion and life in Christ. In China, butterflies represent longevity and marital bliss. Indigenous wisdom relates how Hopi women of the butterfly clan wore their hair in a butterfly shape. Elders have said that when a butterfly appears in your life it may be calling you to change or transformation. Others have experienced the appearance of a butterfly as a message from a loved one who has passed. A momentary kiss of remembrance.

Yet these creatures remain a marvel of engineering and are unique in the universe. Did you know that butterflies are solar powered? When you see them resting with wings outstretched, they are “powering up” in the sunshine. As butterflies are cold-blooded creatures, they need to soak up the sun to warm their flight muscles so they can fly. But they are also unique in their ability to taste with their feet. Nature equipped them with chemoreceptors in their tarsi(feet). They can taste flowers by” walking on them.” This sense of taste allows them to determine if a plant is safe for eating or to find a suitable place to lay their eggs.

“... poetry written on a wingspan.”

Butterflies see multimedia in a way we humans cannot. They have two eyes, as we do, but they are compound eyes with many lenses enabling them to see in many different directions at once. They have up to 17,000 mini eyes with lenses to empower their vision. We thought our colour perception was notable with our 3 cones (colour receptors) but butterflies have up to nine cones for colour, including ultraviolet. They call us to expand our vision and evolve into a new creation. Our eyes have only just opened.

There are of myriad kinds and colours of butterflies, and they fulfill important roles in nature’s ecosystem. They are key pollinators for many plant species and moths particularly are unique in this role. We need butterflies for our sustenance and to remind us to pause for beauty. How have we silenced this wonder? How can we protect them?

These are critical issues which imperil their survival:

• Habitat Loss: Deforestation, urbanization, and land clearing destroy the native plants butterflies need to lay their eggs and feed. Nurture pockets of creation in your backyard or balcony.

• Pesticides: Chemicals used in agriculture and gardening kill butterflies directly and eliminate the essential host plants they rely on. Use organic garden methods & sign petitions against pesticides.

• Climate Change: Shifting weather patterns and rising temperatures can disrupt the timing of plant blooming and migration patterns, throwing their life cycle out of sync with nature’s harmony. Let us make small but critical personal lifestyle choices.

Yet at the heart of these marvelous and magical creatures there remains mystery and wonder. And an invitation into a sacred communion with all beings.

Butterflies universally symbolize transformation, rebirth, and spiritual evolution. Theirs is a remarkable journey—from an earthbound caterpillar to a chrysalis, and finally evolving into an exquisite, winged creature. Yet these fragile butterflies have the stamina to follow migration routes thousands of miles long. This reality can serve as a metaphor and the butterfly a personal guide for growth, overcoming hardship, and breaking old habits.

If today you feel the whisper of butterfly wings nearby, perhaps the Spirit has come to rest in your soul.

-Sister Linda Gregg, csj

Image: AARN GIRI/Unsplash

Looking at Environmental Justice on World Environment Day

Environmental Justice in Canada’s Chemical Valley

photo: Joshua Best

For decades, families in the community of Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, Ontario, have lived beside one of the most concentrated industrial zones in the country: Chemical Valley.

More than 60 petrochemical and refining facilities operate in the region, representing roughly 40 percent of Canada’s chemical industry. For neighbouring communities, the economic footprint of this industry comes with serious concerns about air pollution, toxic exposures, and the impact on their health and the environment. Chemical Valley releases tens of thousands of tonnes of pollutants each year that are linked to respiratory illness, cancer risk, and other long-term health impacts.

photo: Joshua Best

For years, residents of Aamjiwnaang have raised alarms about the cumulative effects of industrial emissions surrounding their territory. Ecojustice has worked alongside them for over a decade to bring these concerns into the public eye and push for stronger environmental protections.

This work has taken many forms. Ecojustice has supported research on pollution levels in Chemical Valley, helped amplify the voices of community advocates, and pursued legal strategies, including a charter challenge, to hold governments accountable for failing to adequately protect the health and rights of nearby residents.

photo: Joshua Best

Community leadership has been at the heart of this effort. Aamjiwnaang advocates have documented pollution incidents, spoken out about the impacts on their families, and called for stronger safeguards to ensure future generations can grow up in a safe and healthy environment.

Environmental justice means that no community should bear a disproportionate burden of pollution. Yet communities like Aamjiwnaang continue to face environmental risks that many others do not.

At Ecojustice, we are committed to ensuring environmental laws are enforced and that everyone in Canada has the right to a healthy environment.

We are deeply grateful to the Sisters of St. Joseph for their support. Their commitment helps make it possible to partner with communities like Aamjiwnaang First Nation and others across the country, strengthening protections, upholding environmental laws and working towards a healthier, more just future.

-Manan Kohli, former Healthy Communities Communication Strategist, Ecojustice.  

Header Image: Nikolett Emmert/Unsplash

Partners in Hope: Supporting Housing, Dignity, and Community in London

On the Closure of House of Hope

The Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada partner with London Cares Homeless Outreach and Regional HIV/AIDS Connection. Across London, organizations have worked deliberately to build a community where everyone can access the housing and support they need to live with stability and dignity.

House of Hope is a vital part of that housing continuum. For many residents, it bridged the gap between encampments or shelters and more stable supportive or affordable housing. Closing this deeply supportive housing creates a serious void and leaves both residents and staff facing renewed uncertainty and distress.

Too much of the time and energy of London Cares leadership—and of many across the social service sector—is consumed by securing, protecting, and renegotiating funding. That outlay of energy is needed in supporting frontline staff, and helping residents move toward stability. This work strengthens not only the lives of House of Hope residents, but the well-being of the wider London community.

Displacing residents and staff is an avoidable setback to the Whole of Community Response to Homelessness. We trust that the province and the city along with those most affected can resolve this together. At a time when communities are already under strain, preserving effective supportive housing is both necessary and do-able.

-Sister Margo Ritchie, csj

image: Adam Papp/Unsplash

Read about it here.

Love and the Environment

Outside the windows of my residence, I have witnessed this spring of 2026 as being a spring of many memorable oddities, spectacles, wonders, and disasters.

The pair of Canadian geese came back rather early to nest on the edge of our roof garden again.  Mother Goose sat on her nest for way over a month without hatching a single gosling.  This was odd and yet during her time on the nest there were hot days then snowy days and even a little hail on one occasion.

The wild turkeys are amusing with their flamboyant plumage and careful but intentional moves and behaviours during the mating season.  Usually, three birds travel past the dining room window.  Two males strut side by side with their tail feathers fully fanned while following a female sauntering slowly ahead or sometimes dashing out in front. They are huge birds and to see them fly into the trees where they safely roost at night is a sight to behold at sundown.

Every spring I enjoy watching the leaves grow on the trees turning quickly from a green fuzzy appearance to small then large leaves.  But this year was different.  The fluctuating temperatures this spring caused the leaves to grow slowly.

The fact that the leaves grew slowly had a ripple effect on the bird population.  Two robins chose the tree outside my window to build a nest.  Since the leaves took a long time to develop, I was able to watch the amazing architectural achievement right to the depositing of the four tiny blue eggs into the well-built nest.  Then disaster struck.

The disaster I witnessed took place on a cold, rainy, windy spring night when the mother robin was no longer able to protect her eggs from the wind and water and she was forced to abandon the nest.  The pair of robins assessed the damage, cleared out and cleaned up the nest, and proceeded to lay four more eggs as the temperature warmed up and the leaves began to grow larger.  Not long after the rebuilding and repopulating the nest with eggs, we experienced a tornado passing through the south of our city.  Once again, the mother robin had to abandon the nest, and the pair of robins haven’t been seen since.

Living so close to the environment and seeing the effects of changing weather patterns on the bird population has an emotional effect on me.  The obstacles faced by the nesting birds, the courage they demonstrated while protecting their eggs and the helplessness I felt as a silent observer, profoundly moved me.  Is it love?

-Sister Elaine Cole, csj

Images: Hannah Schulte/Unsplash; Elaine Cole