Introspection: Metamorphosis

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Metamorphosis

Lessons from Butterflies

Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors; and so we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (The Voice)

Sheltered in this cocoon

I will break the skin

I'm not afraid

I will be a butterfly

From "Emotional Cocoon" by Tearwave

Butterflies are of symbolic importance in numerous cultures.  To the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Japanese, the butterfly was a symbol of the human soul.  In Japan, a large swarm of butterflies was once thought to be a sign that something bad was about to happen.¹  At some point centuries ago, the butterfly became symbolic of the Resurrection of Christ, for it was believed that butterflies were spontaneously borne from dead caterpillars.  As scientists became more and more interested in the study of insects, it was discovered that what was once thought to be the corpse of a caterpillar is actually the site where an amazing process of life occurs.²

Lately I've found myself somewhat fascinated with butterflies, specifically the process by which a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.  I think my fascination stems from the fact that I am haunted by the painful feeling that I am not at all what I was meant to be, that I am nowhere close to living up to my potential.  I often feel as if I am merely crawling through life when everything in me dreams of flying.  Sometimes I feel that I am a prisoner within myself, trapped inside my own fear, shame, guilt, and insecurity.  Needless to say, the idea that a creeping creature barely distinguishable from a worm could transform into a beautiful flying creature is appealing to me.

St. Paul, in one of his letters, writes that, in the Spirit of God, we find freedom.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we, like caterpillars becoming butterflies, are being transformed "from one degree of glory [or beauty] to another," thereby becoming more and more like Christ,³ the One in whom we see what it means to be fully human.  The Greek word Paul uses to describe this process is metamorphoō,⁴ from which we get the word metamorphosis, which we commonly associate with butterflies and other creatures that change in form.  I am beginning to think that the process of personal transformation, like the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, is not simple or clean.

A caterpillar sheds its skin multiple times as it grows, but, when it sheds its skin for the final time, it is covered by a hard shell called a chrysalis.⁵  It is within this shell that the very much alive creature goes through its radical change in form.  This metamorphosis is not simply a matter of a caterpillar's snapping wings onto itself, as a child might snap hands and feet onto a Mr. Potato Head toy.  What happens in a chrysalis is actually a rather gruesome process.  A significant portion of the poor caterpillar's body is broken down - liquefied - to serve as the raw material to develop new body parts like wings.⁶

Maybe the gruesome ordeals we endure in our lives are one means by which we are transformed spiritually.  Perhaps the difficult experiences that make us feel that we are coming apart at the seems, though not necessarily caused by God, are things God uses to help us to become the people were created to be.  David A. Seamands writes,
God's recycling grace takes our infirmities, our damaged emotions, and the garbage of our lives and turns them from curses that cripple into means of growth and instruments to be used in His service.⁷
Perhaps the experiences that seemingly break us down are the things God uses to put us back together again - wiser, stronger, bolder, and kinder than we were before.

I think that one reason I've been feeling "stuck" lately is the fact that I have become pain avoidant.  In the past few years, I've found myself running from things that would potentially cause me to feel ashamed, insecure, inadequate, vulnerable, awkward, or out-of-place.  As a result I've ended up quitting a lot of things, including dancing and bowling.⁸  Looking back, I don't think my avoiding anything potentially painful, difficult, or unpleasant has done me any good.  In fact, I've discovered that running away from pain is essentially the same as running away from life.

Once a caterpillar has been broken down and put back together as a butterfly, it secretes an enzyme to soften its chrysalis, and it begins its struggle to break free from its shell.  The butterfly uses tiny claws on its wings to cut its way out.  Once free, it sits on the remains of its chrysalis while its wings unfurl and harden.⁹  Once the wings are developed, the process of metamorphosis is complete, and the adult butterfly sets out in search of a mate.

There is a story in which someone was watching a butterfly struggling to break free from its chrysalis.  He began to feel sorry for the poor creature, and, out of a misguided sense of compassion, he decided to help it out by cutting it free from its prison.  Unfortunately, when the butterfly was cut free, it had not yet built up the strength it needed to fly.¹⁰  I am not sure how much of this fable is based in reality, but lesson it conveys is clear: our struggles make us strong.  St. James writes that our struggles produce endurance and that endurance produces maturity and wholeness.¹¹

If I want freedom from the things that imprison me - fear, insecurity, shame - I cannot run away from them, for I would merely be a prisoner in hiding.  Instead, I have to face these things directly and fight for my freedom.  My friend Erica recently helped me to realize that if we got everything we wanted in life easily, we would not appreciate it as much as we would if we had to struggle for it.

In the seventeenth century, a Dutch etymologist named Jan Swammerdam dissected a caterpillar that would have soon entered its pupal stage, and he described what he found as "a butterfly enclosed and hidden in a caterpillar, and perfectly contained within its skin."  In other words, beneath the caterpillar's skin, he discovered the beginnings of the wings and legs that would be developed in the chrysalis.  The process of transformation had already begun even before the caterpillar entered into its chrysalis.¹²

In the same way that caterpillars are born to become butterflies, we were born to become more than we currently are.  The term for the final developmental stage of a butterfly is imago, a Latin word meaning "image."¹³  In the Church, we say that human beings are created in the Imago Dei, the Image of God.¹⁴  For reasons we still don't fully understand, human beings don't typically seem to look very godly, but the Holy Spirit works within us to restore the divine image in which we have been created, transforming us from one degree of glory to the next.

In Christ, we are like caterpillars transforming into butterflies.  The process of metamorphosis by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly is arduous and gruesome, but the results are undeniably beautiful.  Likewise, the process of personal transformation is not simple, quick, or clean, but the potential for transformation is already within us.  We were made for more.  To those of us who dream of flying but feel as though we are crawling, may God grant the strength, courage, and endurance to break through all obstacles so that we may become all we were meant to be.


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: Butterfly, section: In culture
2. Ted Olsen.  "Are Butterflies a New Creation After All?"  The Behemoth, 02/19/2015.
3. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NRSV)
4. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3339&t=RSV
5. Wikipedia: Pupa, section: Chrysalis
6. Wikipedia: Butterfly, section: Pupa
7. David A. Seamands.  Healing for Damaged Emotions.  1981, David C. Cook.  p. 131
8. In the last couple of months, I have started bowling again, but, after some frustratingly bad games, I'm thinking about quitting again.
9. Wikipedia: Pupa, section: Chrysalis
10. One telling of this story can be found here.
11. James 1:2-4
12. Olsen
13. Wiktionary: Imago
14. Genesis 1:26-27

The photograph of the butterfly was taken by PJC&Co and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  The photograph of the chrysalis was taken by Viren Vaz and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.  Neither photographer is in any way affiliated with this blog.