Melissa Overmyer on Soaring on the Breath of God

"What you are about to read is scientifically inexplicable. Try as they may, no one can figure it out.

"The Eastern Migrating Monarch (Danaus Plexippus) is an anomaly in nature. As stated, it goes through several changes to reach the Imago stage of mature adulthood: egg to caterpillar to pupa to butterfly - each stage of development having the identical DNA as the one before.

"It takes three generations of butterflies to migrate from Mexico to Canada. Each generation lives about four to six weeks, going through the exact same life cycle again and again.

"But here is the mind-boggling part. The fourth generation Monarch butterfly - identical in DNA to the previous three generations - flies all the way from Canada to Mexico by itself, living upward of nine months, traveling up to two miles high and averaging 200 miles per day. The Monarch travels over 1,500 miles, occasionally getting blown off course as far as Bermuda, and yet, still is able to find its way back to the exact same 60-mile-radius fir tree forest that its ancestors inhabited four generations prior."

In a recent commentary, writer Melissa Overmyer reflected on the flight of the Monarch butterflies vis-à-vis us soaring on the breath of God.

To access Ms. Overmyer's complete post, please visit:

American Catholic: Blog: On a Wing and a Prayer (17 JUL 17)