Which Caterpillar Are You?



Transformation



A small, earthbound, slow moving caterpillar inches its way along the branch of the tree, munching on the leaves as he crawls along.  Life is OK.  He was surviving.  He eventually finds his best friend, another small earthbound, slow moving caterpillar inching his way along the branch of the tree, munching on leaves as he crawls along.  They talk about the weather, about the tenderness of the leaves, and other such things important to caterpillars.  One of the caterpillars finally got up the courage to say what was on his mind, “So, what do you think about this cocoon thing?”  “Oh, I don’t like it at all,” replied the other caterpillar.  “I heard once you go in, that’s it.  As a caterpillar you die.  You are all cramped up in the tiny space and you start to change and it hurts and its dark.  I’m not going to do it.  How about you?” 

“I don’t know,” answered the first caterpillar.  “They say that what happens is really amazing. And that you can fly and be all colorful.  I’d love to know what it feels like to fly.  I don’t like the thought of being in a cocoon, but I think that afterward, life could be way better.  It’ll be hard and scary, I know.  But I hear that it’s worth it.  I think I might try it.”  Trusting the process of transformation, that caterpillar entered into the cocoon, giving up life as he knew it, and after some painful and scary times, emerged from that cocoon as a beautiful butterfly, floating along the air, living a life he had never dreamed possible.  The other caterpillar remained a small earthbound slow moving creature inching his way along the branch of the tree, munching on the leaves as he crawled along.

Transformation.  The process of dying in order to live.  As this Lenten season begins, we are reminded that God is all about transformation.  In Christ, we are a new creation.  The old is gone and a new life has begun.  But being inside the cocoon is scary, dark, painful, and uncertain.  New life begins in the dark, uncertain times of our life.  In the operating room, in the loneliness, in the doubt, in the trials and tribulations of life.  We worship a God who knows all about this.  Who went through the cocoon of betrayal, mockery, beatings, and crucifixion in order to get to Easter Sunday.  The only way to get to the empty tomb is through the cross.  Jesus asks us to die to ourselves, our ambitions, desires, greed, selfishness, in order to fully live an abundant life in him: a life of love and sacrifice and generosity.  Ponder in this Lenten season whether God is asking you to let a part of you die (a bad habit, over indulgence, frivolous spending, thinking of yourself first) in order for you to truly live.  Yes, it's dark and painful inside that cocoon.  But as the first caterpillar found out: Boy, is it worth it!  Which caterpillar will you be this year?