The Hard Work of Transformation

Easter happened. About two thousand years ago. Easter happened. Five days ago. How has the world changed? How have I changed?

Sunday was both a wonderful and bitter day for me. Wonderful because I was able to put on a cute purple dress and go to a job which I believe to be crafted specifically for me and my enjoyment. I was able to laugh with friends, exchange hugs with church members and smile at visitors. Our worship services were majestically beautiful, not because of our own crafting, but because the presence of God filled our sanctuary, and our hearts, in a way that broke through the pain and suffering of the outside world.

Bitter because Sunday was the day our beloved pastor of 25 years said goodbye. A much-deserved retirement, leaving us with a much-felt emptiness that seems to be engulfing itself within an even deeper void.

But whether wonderful or bitter, Easter happened. Jesus was resurrected from the dead, was transformed, and lives today to show us that we too can be made new and created into the people we were intended to be.

Transformation -- well, that's where the hard work begins. You see, transformation rarely, if ever, occurs during the "good" days of life. Rather, as with Jesus, transformation occurs after our lives have been destroyed. Before we are made new, we must first die. Our hearts are
  shattered when those who claim to love us on Palm Sunday shout "Crucify!" on Friday. Our emotions are numbed when we experience betrayal that is beyond any pain we thought imaginable. Our spirits are broken as doubt appears to threaten our faith and we see the storm clouds of the unknown forming in the distance.

When we are destroyed, struck down, transformation is hardly the goal towards which we direct our thoughts. When we are lying in the dark tombs of life, our thoughts tend to be wrapped around our pain, our uncertainty, our anger and fear. The biggest question that tends to fill our minds is this: "Will I ever feel 'ok' again?"

Be encouraged! This question has the potential to lead us towards transformation! This is the question that tells us that in these moments life is not what it should be, and that life is crying out to be transformed! The most beautiful part of this is that transformation does not occur because we rise up, dust ourselves off, put on a stern face of resolve and move forward with life. Rather, transformation occurs as we sob, broken heart in hand, and cry out to God as we offer our shattered life to God's transforming work. Transformation occurs when we release our tears, abdicate the throne we think we deserve as kings and queens of life, and allow the truth and freedom of Christ to rule in our hearts.

A common, yet still powerful, metaphor for transformation is that of the butterfly. We all learn that a caterpillar   locks himself into his cocoon, says goodbye to the world  he has known, and disappears into that cocoon, blocking himself off from the effects of the outside world. When he emerges, he is beautiful, unrecognizable. But I can imagine that if we were to get close enough to the caterpillar, and close enough to the butterfly, we might recognize the glimmer in his eyes. This creature is still the same creature, still the same soul, yet has been transformed into his ultimate state of being, the one with gorgeous colors, widespread wings that will allow him to fly into places that were once unaccessible to his short legs and tiny flightless form.

But do not forget, the caterpillar does nothing in the process of transformation, other than yield himself to it. Fearlessly, he enters that cocoon, trusting that his Creator will provide the means for emergence as a new creation that is more beautiful and free than the caterpillar could ever be by his own doing.

Easter really happened. Easter continues to happen because Easter, the Risen Christ, is the proof that by God's power we can all be transformed, and made new. Our wounds can be healed and life can be restored. Do not fight the moments of destruction, because they come regardless of our endless struggle for happiness. Rather, when our hearts, emotions and spirits have been laid to rest by the cruel cries of punishment shouted by the world, we lay ourselves down, rest in the loving arms of God, and allow the power of the Holy Spirit to create in us new and beautiful creations, limitless in freedom, limitless in love.