Page 1 - 2019 October Listen - 13-4.pdf
P. 1

A SEEKER’S
                    RESOURCE
                         FOR                             Listen
                    SPIRITUAL
                   DIRECTION




                  OCTOBER 2019    VOLUME 13    ISSUE 4



   METAMORPHOSIS AND SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP



        Spiritual growth is most often grounded in trau-       As the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, its insides
        ma, suffering, longing and misadventure.  It seems     literally turn into a pulp as it digests itself, leaving
        like our instincts to actually reach for and touch     only “imaginal” disks or cells guiding its evolution
        God, the Beyond, or however you might refer to the     into a butterfly.  In the chrysalis, this pulp combusts
        ground of all being, are only activated when we have  and composts the original caterpillar.
        lost much (or have much to lose).  And those loss-
        es paradoxically both destroy our older selves, but    Similarly, while our grief and sorrow eat away at us
        also give our new manifestations wings to reach for    and threaten our very extinction, they also reveal
        previously unexplored and apparently unavailable       the imaginal disks of our holy selves, the architec-
        plateaus.                                              ture of God for our arising.

        But before we can fly, our traumas and wounds need  All of our growth is steeped in paradox and regret,
        to be composted and assimilated, as they weigh         with yearning and longing ideally resolving into
        us down and prevent our ascents.  It’s hard to soar    acceptance, insight and understanding.
        with that much baggage.  So, we need to experience
        a kind of metamorphosis, like the caterpillar to the   Although a few have done so, it is very hard to take
        butterfly.                                             this journey alone.  Most of us need the warm and
                                                                                                 continued on next page






































                                                              1
   1   2   3   4   5   6