A caterpillar in a rainstorm inspires a saint

While living in the Tigray region of Ethiopia I learned the story of how a young clerical apprentice having difficulty understanding God’s message has an epiphany in rainstorm watching a caterpillar.

A young Tigrayan born in 6th century Aksum was sent to study to become clergy by his parents but was struggling. One day he was caught in a rainstorm and found shelter under a tree. He noticed that a caterpillar was falling off branches of the tree while trying to climb in order to eat the leaves. He realized that the caterpillar did not give up. If the rain knocked him off the tree he just climbed up again. The young Tigrayan became aware that in God’s creation we are given challenges but that with Christ we can overcome. God gives his living creations what they need to survive. For mankind he also gave his word to guide us. Yared became a venerated saint not only in Ethiopian Orthodox tradition but also recognized in the Western church. His observance of bird’s singing inspired him to come up with a ten note music writing system. He composed many works still in use today.

Much of the world’s population lives a “lower standard of living” compared with Western democracies. Yet in my travels to Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa I have often that many people considered poor by Western terms lead what they deem a more then satisfactory lives. They put their faith, family, and community before personal wealth or power as Jesus has taught us.