In the process of metamorphosis there is a very delicate time of not quite being. The story is told of a man who walks along and sees a butterfly caught within its cocoon, struggling to free itself from the constraints of the protective shield surrounding it. As he watches, the man determines that he will help the little creature free itself, and with his pocketknife very carefully cuts the membrane that separates the butterfly from freedom. As the little butterfly feels the air, it moves its wings, and falls to the ground, unprepared to fly. A bird swoops down, and the butterfly becomes a meal...all possibility of further gracing the world with its unique contribution gone.
The object lesson is that the cocoon is the protected testing ground where the butterfly must work to prove its endurance before emerging into the world. What appears to be a struggle is the necessary strengthening that builds the muscles and tissues into cohesive wings of glory. And so with us. We view struggle as something to avoid. Yet, it is because we have been tested within the cocoon of experience that we become champions. Without endurance, we are prey to the whims of fate. With strength, we can rise to meet whatever is on our path with assurance that we have the wherewithal to fly. And in viewing another who is also being called to prove their own endurance, we must allow them the necessary time of strengthening without interference, so that they, too, will have wings of glory. Then we can all fly together as an unbroken legion of light.
The object lesson is that the cocoon is the protected testing ground where the butterfly must work to prove its endurance before emerging into the world. What appears to be a struggle is the necessary strengthening that builds the muscles and tissues into cohesive wings of glory. And so with us. We view struggle as something to avoid. Yet, it is because we have been tested within the cocoon of experience that we become champions. Without endurance, we are prey to the whims of fate. With strength, we can rise to meet whatever is on our path with assurance that we have the wherewithal to fly. And in viewing another who is also being called to prove their own endurance, we must allow them the necessary time of strengthening without interference, so that they, too, will have wings of glory. Then we can all fly together as an unbroken legion of light.