Butterflies have always intrigued me. I mean, they start out as a caterpillar, a weird long bug with a bunch of stubby legs that eats leaves, and then transform into this winged creature with only six long legs that drinks nectar. In fact, caterpillars get put in a kind of blender that jumbles them all up and has them coming out differently. That can’t be painless or easy.
It’s not hard to find the human equivalents, let’s be honest. Who hasn’t been jumbled up in the blender of life and gotten transformed, even a little bit? I just can’t help but wonder - why does it have to be so painful? Transformation is never easy - it’s usually painful, difficult and annoying as all get out. But it is as natural as the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
We will all change or transform multiple times in our lives. From being a parent to retirement; going from one career to another; falling in love to breaking up. But the hope is, at the end, we become something even better, even more beautiful. Maybe we’ve learned empathy, how to let go, how to love deeply, how to change more gracefully. Each transformation is a gift, if we choose to see it that way.
May your transformations be smooth easy and with lots of good lessons!
Rev. Sian Wiltshire is Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's minister. Please feel free to reach out and say hello! She can be reached by email, revsian@ocuuc.org, or by church phone at (714) 556-2882 (x302).