A metamorphosis is happening.  A change of the nature of a thing or person into a completely different one.  We are in the midst of a change of condition. Do you feel it?

We have been forced into our cocoons.  We crawled into them quickly because danger was upon us.  We had been blindly fattening ourselves up for years; but for what reason?  We never thought about it really.  We were just going through the motions and we liked it that way.  Not too much time to think.  Surface level is the only thing we had time for.  We were running ourselves in circles with consumption; of food, of gas, of time, of people, of activity, of freedom, of all we touched.  The using up and wasting of everything, for ourselves.  We had a veracious appetite.

Then suddenly, almost overnight, we were plunged into a tight space. We barely fit.  Squeezed inside, in the dark.  There is not much movement.  Mainly sleep.  We find this cocoon is not comfortable.  It is not the cozy we imagined it to be.  It is confining and we are claustrophobic. It is stifling and we are suffocating.  It hinders our lifestyle.  It forces us to fast.  It makes us give up our freedom of movement.  We wonder, how long can we stay cooped up like this?

At first, we made the adjustments, but our hunger for more and our need for the relentless pace has made us restless.  We have begun pushing on this prison.  Shouting at the walls.  Trying to make more room. We know it is necessary to be here, but it is not pleasurable. Our frustration spills over and we shake our fists at the sticky threads that hold us captive.

But what we have not understood is that we are getting smaller.  Our inability to feed ourselves and consume as usual has stripped away our hunger, but it has increased our appetite…for real connection, to God and to each other.  The dark places always do. We have slowed down.  We have stopped our frenzy.

Transformation is happening.  In our confinement, we are feeling again.  We are taking stock.  We are waiting.  We are contemplating.  We are changing.  It is subtle at first, but now that the light is threatening to break through, we are aware that we don’t want to go back to the way things were.  We don’t want to run in circles anymore.  We find our hearts beat better with a slower rhythm.  Our minds function better with less to think about.  We are stunned to realize we actually like the cocoon, or parts of it anyway.

The idea of opening up scares us a little.  We want our lives back, but not at the cost they were requiring of us.  We want to maintain the deep relationship with God we have found in this place. We want to continue the time spent with family reaching out to check in and be together.  We are finding life again.  We are remembering it is not all about us.  We are recognizing that giving up our ways and letting go is actually making more room in our hearts.  More than that, it is expanding them.

As they expand, so does our compassion. So, does our kindness.  So, does our hope.  So, does our love.  Soon we will have expanded so much that the cocoon will not fit us any longer.  It will break open, but not a moment too soon. The timing will be perfect.

The light will break through and we will begin pushing our way out.  It will be uncomfortable. It will take twisting and turning and adjusting.  It will be different than we thought.  Once we are out, we will still have to wait for our eyes to adjust to the light.  We will find we cannot operate in the same way as before.  Somehow, we no longer will fit our old ways.

We will wait in the sun while our wings unfurl.  We will be amazed at the color and the newness.  We will stretch them out.  They will move up and down as they dry.  We will have to choose new ways to be.  Instead of crawling in endless motion, eating everything in our path, we will take flight.

Our perspective from the air will be different.  We will see more than just what is right in front of us, we will see how everything is connected.  We will see that giving up our freedom for a season has not taken it from us, but has actually taught us what true freedom looks like. The ability to see others and count them more important than ourselves.

We will fly.  There will be a learning curve.  Take off will not go smoothly, but once in the air, we will not look back to our life on the ground. Why would we want to go back to that?  Our color will light up the world.  Our agile selves which have shed their old skin, will flit from flower to flower taking new life to each place.  The transformation will be remarkable. The beauty will be extraordinary.

A whole new way of being is upon us.  It is a metamorphosis.