Metamorphous

SERMON: “Metamorphous”, Christopher Mundy

This morning I’d like to talk to you about change, we all know that change in our lives is a constant… it is something that is unavoidable, needs to be recognized, and should be embraced. Change is indeed needed for survival. It is part of the natural process of life, of evolution, of our bodies, our psychological makeup, and even our beloved communities.

But change is not to be rushed. For change to be healthy we must be mindful of allowing it to occur within its own time.

Can you imagine planting a seed in a garden, watering it, giving it everything it needs to grow and then coming back an hour later, or a day later and being devastated that the seed hasn't turned into the plant and created fruit yet? I mean, HOW ridiculous is THAT? It's truly a crazy thought.

We, in many ways, do this all the time. We have planted the seeds of possibility and of our intention in the soil of The Uni-verse - and now we must tend to them and let them grow. Trying to rush the process will actually make it worse. Settling into the process makes things much more enjoyable.

Many of us are achievers. We are going to do something and we are going to do it well and be the best. And many of us have taken this point of view and applied it to our spiritual path. But that can't fly. We cannot achieve our way towards enlightenment or spiritual growth. It's something we must allow, we must get out of the way of and we must let it unfold.

One of the key tenets of The Path is patience. I remember the first time I asked The Uni-verse for patience, I thought I was actually asking The Uni-verse to SPEED THINGS UP! But instead, it slowed things down. And the JOKE was on ME!

I swear I was born in this life just to learn patience. I hate waiting. I really do. I get excited, I get happy, I get all ready to go and then things take twice as long or longer than I thought they would to happen.

There is a story told of a man that found a cocoon of a butterfly. ..One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of
 the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! 
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were the universes way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. To go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
 And we could never fly.

Life is difficult, thank God. The problems we overcome allow us to experience the richness of life and its accompanying joy. Adversity adds spice to life and makes a wonderful teacher. Don’t the hardships we undergo create the ability to bear them? Is it possible to live through a disaster without growing stronger? I’ll let you answer these questions for yourself.
 Before emerging from its chrysalis (cocoon), the young Monarch butterfly has a fat body and folded, limp wings. It is hardly an image of strength and beauty. It cannot free itself from the chrysalis without a long struggle. As it pushes, strains, and convulses, liquid from its body is forced into the veins of its wings. Bit by bit the wings extend and grow stronger. Bit by bit an increasing amount of pressure is placed against the walls of the chrysalis. At last, a slim Monarch with robust wings breaks free.
 We are Monarchs. Our chrysalis is our comfort zone. Do you expect to break free without a struggle? Do you expect to fly before extending and strengthening your wings? Can you see how the obstacles we face are not our enemies but our friends?
 Our physical eyes weaken as we grow older, but our spiritual eyes should improve with age. What was seen as a devastating disaster in our youth, later appears as a less threatening but worrisome obstacle. As we grow in experience and wisdom, worrisome obstacles become less fearful and are reduced to difficult challenges. Later, difficult challenges are viewed as valuable lessons. And valuable lessons become wonderful opportunities. At last, we reach the point where every ‘misfortune’ is seen as a blessing in disguise. Each obstacle that comes our way is like a delicious fruit with a bitter skin. We don’t complain that we have to peel it before we can enjoy it.
It is our attitude that determines whether we benefit from misfortune. The same furnace that melts gold also hardens clay. With each affliction, those who have a hardened attitude grow harder, more callous, and cynical. Yet, those who willingly allow themselves to be forged, hammered, and shaped by adversity, endlessly grow into a better person, endlessly bloom into a flower to bright to behold.
 The greatest lesson suffering has to teach us is how others feel when tragedy hits. Our experience makes us more compassionate. Some learn at an early age. For example, the young girl who climbed the hill with a baby on her back. When someone said to her, "The baby is too heavy for you to carry," she replied, "It’s okay; he’s my brother."
To grow we must learn to accept the challenges that life may give us, we must learn to adapt our perceptions so that we are not overcome…

I asked for Strength ...
And Life gave me Challenges to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom ...
And life gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity ...
And life gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage ...
And life gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love ...
And life gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors ...
And life gave me Opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted
I received everything I needed.

So, today, if you have planted seeds or want to plant seeds, can you be at peace with the gentle unfolding and growing of what you've planted? Can you tend to it, can you water it, and can you help it along just a little bit day by day? Think about that. Can we allow things to unfold, instead of trying to achieve our way to happiness? Can we let go and let The Uni-verse arrange our life, instead of just trying to make things happen?

Instead of trying to push our life up the hill, can we allow ourselves to be gently pushed up the hill by angels? The choice is yours. I would like to leave you today with a poem by Mary Oliver.

The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?

Who made the swan,
and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper,
I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention,
how to fall down
into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me,
what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?