The Butterfly is Coming

I watched a favorite preacher of mine giving a talk yesterday on television. His theme was transformation. One of his primary teaching examples was of the caterpillar and the butterfly.

I have always resonated with this real life example of radical transformation. Who isn't mesmerized by the amazing process by which a creepy crawly worm-like creature becomes a beautiful, enchanting creature that has complete freedom to fly anywhere it wants.

The caterpillar is earthbound. It knows only what is in its immediate vicinity. It can't travel very far or very fast. It eats only what it can find on its path. It's vision is limited. It's world is finite.

The process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly is a true miracle. The caterpillar goes into a cocoon, and seems to dissolve. It is as though there is a death of the creature to anyone looking on. Motion stops. Eating ceases. All of what was once 'known' to the caterpillar ceases to be.

Then, one day, the cocoon begins to crack and break apart. A new creature begins to emerge from the tomb. A resurrection, of sorts, is occurring.

What emerges from the cocoon bears no resemblance to the wormy critter that went in. The beautiful butterfly that emerges can take off and fly through the skies - free and unencumbered. It's an entirely new life for the transformed creature.

We are all like the little wormy caterpillar. We are moving through our lives thinking we know what is available to us by looking around our surroundings. What we lose sight of, is the fact that we are in the process of transformation. We ourselves are in process. We haven't begun to tap our potential or realize all that we can become.

The key is to realize that we are 'in process.' The secret is to KNOW with absolute certainty that we are on a journey of change and growth. We aren't "there" yet. There is so much more waiting for us!

The butterfly is in us. It has always been in us. We are becoming what we were born to be - each and every day. We may feel far from where we want to be at this moment. That's OK. Our job is to keep on keeping on. Our job is to do what is before us today and BELIEVE that our true nature, our divine potential, is being created and revealed one day at a time.

Being in the cocoon can literally feel like death. We almost have to completely 'dissolve' what was, to release what will be. That is not a comfortable process. It is not comfortable, but it is inevitable if we are to attain the heights available to us.

The butterfly is coming! Believe it!