METAMORPHOSIS

6.14.18

In describing the transition humanity is now experiencing, the example's been used of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Humankind as a species can be seen in chrysalis mode, locked within its earthly cocoon while it morphs into a more mature and magical creature.

When the caterpillar's cocoon is complete, its body dissolves into a jelly-like substance.  Within this state, imaginal cells emerge and begin subtly creating a new structure.  Unseen to the world, the body and wings of the butterfly-to-be are taking shape. But if judged by appearances, the miracle in progress would look like a puddle of jelly and a complete failure.

Humanity is at a similar point. The chaos we see all around us seems so senseless at times it's overwhelming.  It's hard to believe a miracle is in progress when what surrounds us feels incomprehensible and appears to be failing.  We despair that things will ever get better.

When we can't make intellectual sense of the chaos, it's good to remember that we don't need to understand it. What's taking place is an evolutionary leap, part of a design so vast it's not in the nature of creation that the human mind be able to understand it. 

The intelligence that crafted the Universe is at work here. Just as the galaxies have been so masterfully formed, just as the butterfly emerges when the transformation is complete, so too humanity will slowly emerge on the other side of this turmoil.  In the decades to come, a new grace will become evident in our lives as we begin to recall our place in the family of the cosmos. The current era will fade from memory as we lift on the wings of a new spirit and begin a journey of discovery.

THE WEB OF CONNECTEDNESS

7.19.12

This lifetime, for most of us, is not a time to go apart and seek the individual illumination; that’s not what this life is for.  This life is to be lived in the web of connectedness with all that humanity is feeling and experiencing.  In fact, it’s a role that’s been anticipated for eons through the history of humankind.

Our role, through the personalities we have chosen, is to be a part of the whole of humanity, like yeast in a loaf of bread dough.  We can’t play that role if we're off by ourself somewhere; we have to be embedded.  And in these times, the density of being embedded in worldly culture and institutions can be very challenging.

When we resist this life, resist the density and the constraints of it, let us remember that we have in fact chosen this role at this watershed time.  In this time of great change, we have chosen the opportunity to serve, to lift, to fulfill a destiny we’ve been waiting to fulfill... for a very long time.

That role is probably not going to look like anything the personality would conjure up!  What’s important is our willingness to continue moving forward through experiences that may not suit our preferences and have a vast degree of uncertainty.

The steps ahead will likely not be clear most of the time. But the heart can lead, and through the heart, the way will show itself.  

EXPANDED PERSPECTIVE

7.18.12

As we move through these times, how do we nurture our capacity to see the hand of the Divine at work and to trust it? It’s hard to trust when the trend of events appears to be going in the wrong direction, a direction that appears not to be beneficial for humanity and the planet.  And it’s the tendency of the human mind to think it knows, that it has considered all or sufficient of the factors at work so that a judgment can be made. 

And yet what we see as humans is such a small part of the puzzle! It brings to mind a photograph from the Hubble telescope that captures a slice of the known universe.  Within the photo are hundreds of galaxies of different colors and shapes and sizes; so many it just boggles the mind.  And yet the slice of the universe in this photo is so small it equates to what you would see through a hole the size of a dime -- if the dime was held out 75 feet out!  So tiny - such a tiny, tiny bit of our glorious universe do we see.

Our human intelligence is comparable to this lens in its limitations, its smallness of capacity to perceive. Yet the mind thinks it can judge what’s going on in the world - and feel certain that it’s all going drastically wrong - and this is reason for anguish and consternation and distress.

So we are fortunate to have a larger perspective made available to us.  These pictures of our universe and our neighboring galaxies… the amazing wonders of our own galaxy; what a gift! The ability to see our home planet, Earth, from the perspective of the moon… these expansions to our perception of our relationship to the larger cosmos have come to us at a time when we need them most.  We need something larger than the chaos of the manmade world right now to orient to.   

In the beauty and intelligence of the cosmos, we have found it.