Butterflies and the sermon

Do you see the butterflies?” I whispered in Diane’s ear as we sat in church on a recent Sunday morning. (Diane heads the church's volunteer gardening crew and is my wife.)
“Shh,” she whispered back, "listen to the sermon. You might learn something.”

“But,” I started to respond, before being silenced by a glare from the person in front of me.

I did listen to the sermon and I did learn something.  Back home I raised the subject of butterflies again. “There were a number of butterflies flitting around the outside of the sanctuary during the service.  I was just trying to tell you how beautiful they were.”

“I know how beautiful they are.” she said, “the yellow Sulphur butterflies look spectacular in the sunlight and I even saw a Monarch.  Maybe some Monarchs did hatch out from the milkweed we planted behind the kitchen.  But I believe that during the service you can appreciate both the butterflies and the service.”

“You mean I have to multi-task?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, “like right now you are listening to me and thinking about butterflies at the same time.”

“What?” I said.

Diane sighed, looked down at her newspaper and sipped her coffee.

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