The Bigger Story

No caterpillar ever became a butterfly by attending a seminar. In fact, every caterpillar who ever became a butterfly couldn’t help himself. Transformation is not a self help process.

In nature, caterpillars hatch after butterflies lay eggs, and not one minute sooner. Caterpillars consume leaves until they arrive at the moment they can consume no more. It is inevitable.

Then they spin a cocoon or form a chrysalis in which to sleep. While they are asleep changes occur. It is not about what the caterpillar does to transform himself. There is something else much bigger going on that makes him a butterfly.

Don’t Waste Your Money

There will always be people willing to take your money to tell you how to become a butterfly like them. I don’t want to be one of those. Instead of a seven step treadmill to owning a bigger house, I hope to introduce you to the power that will make you a better person while you sleep.

People Are Not Butterflies

The difference between a caterpillar and you, is that you are self conscious. A caterpillar is blissfully ignorant. He knows he is alive. He knows he is hungry.  But he doesn’t know that he is just a worm with tiny legs.

And he doesn’t know that one day he will have wings that are mesmerizingly beautiful, and long delicate legs that will grasp the most exquisite blossoms. He doesn’t know that one day he will fly. He knows none of these things.

But you do. Deep down inside, you do.

Say Hello to Yourself

I know a beautiful selfish girl who became drug addicted at 13 years of age. In her mid-forties she dried out in prison. Today, she is a dedicated caregiver to the elderly. Like a mother hen, she has regathered the scattered children she was too stoned to raise. They are giving her grandchildren. She is dearly loved, and amazingly productive. Her life is rich, and I am so blessed to know her.

Worthless Spite

You might say, “What a waste of years. Couldn’t she have gotten off the drugs sooner and become a stay at home mom? Or an away-from-home working mom? Wouldn’t that have been better?”

Well, I don’t know. Maybe not. I know some stay at home moms and working moms from hell. But of course, you’d be half right about the wasted years— the half that’s completely worthless. The other half is the half that counts. Don’t miss the blessing of the butterfly by despising the caterpillar.

There is a Bigger Story

How long did the worm with tiny legs have to suck down Methamphetamines until she went to prison and got clean? As long as she was hungry for the stuff. Not one minute more or less.

How long did she stay in the cocoon of prison until she no longer craved the drug? As long as it took to grow wings.

So what gave her the wings of a caregiver? What transformed her into a beloved grandmother? You already know deep down inside. It was a creative force. A healing river. A higher power. A spring of living water. Her story is part of a bigger story.

You’ve Got a Story

Your story is part of a bigger story too. A bigger story that gives every stage of your life a particular beauty and meaning. This is fundamental. This begins before the womb, and it continues after the grave.

In fact, I have nothing to say to someone who believes there is no bigger story. If you are that person you should stop reading my stuff and return to your comfort zone.

But for those who are able to be still and know there is a God, read on. Somewhere ahead there is a cocoon for you to sleep in. There is a day of awakening to your full beauty. And you will emerge, and you will dry your wings, and you will fly.

One Step Forward

How do you see the bigger story in your life? What do you call it?

Is it the impersonal force of nature? Is it the cold comfort of science? Is it superstition? Vishnu? Allah? Buddha? Satan? Jesus? Jahweh? A nameless higher power? The force of Star Wars? The church you attend? The nothing god of atheism?

You choose your higher power. You embrace it for your own reasons. This is half of the truth. But the more powerful half is that your higher power has chosen you. It embraces you. It transforms you while you sleep.

Sleep well.

To be continued…