The “P” Word

Okay… So, you’re my tribe. Right? We’ve been doing this beautiful dance together for a few years now. We’ve been transparent with each other, and you know that despite my position, I’m really another traveler on the journey with you. Well, with that transparency in mind, there’s something I gotta tell you.
You’ll be the first to hear it in this setting. Feel free to share it with anyone who is not watching today.

Here it is: (deep breath) I DO NOT LIKE THE PROCESS! OMG! I DO NOT LIKE THE PROCESS! Why do we have to go through a process?

Okay, something ended (Stage 1). I get that. Things start and stop all of the time. People come and go. Jobs come and go. Even pandemics, come and go.

My girlish figure – it comes and goes.

And at some point, there’s a new beginning (Stage 3). Something new begins. New people show up in our lives. We get a new job, start a new career, or even decide to retire. A vaccine or a cure is found.

And, we buy bigger clothes. But there’s something in the middle called “The Process.” It is “The Void” (Stage 2) that we each have to go through before a new beginning can spring forth. Robert Brumet says this, in his book “Finding Yourself in Transition”

Stripped of his identity, the initiate becomes a non-person – invisible in the space between worlds. In this netherworld, he confronts his existence and is initiated into the world of transpersonal. The initiate is empowered by a dream or a vision or a journey into the “other world.” He receives a new name and a new identity, for he has died and is now reborn.

The Apostle Paul echoes these sentiments in Galatians 2:20 when he says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

The Caterpillar – Cocoon – Butterfly

This reminds me of the process of the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. In an article by Ferris Jabre called, ”How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?” I learned the following interesting facts.

  • The caterpillar, or what is more scientifically termed a larva, stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin.
  • One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis.

Stage 1 – The Ending

  • Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body.
  • First, the caterpillar digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues.
  • Before hatching, when a caterpillar is still developing inside its egg, it grows an imaginal disc for each of the adult body parts it will need as a mature butterfly or moth.
  • Once a caterpillar has disintegrated all of its tissues except for the imaginal discs, those discs use the protein-rich soup all around them to fuel the rapid cell division required to form the wings, antennae, legs, eyes, genitals and all the other features of an adult butterfly or moth.

Stage 2 – The Void

  • This is the process of dying to the old order of things.
  • This is the process where we say, as we said last week, “I am willing to be changed.”
  • The caterpillar is so willing to be changed that it “digests itself.”
  • The caterpillar participates in its own transition.

Are you willing to stop fighting the inevitable, and participate with the change? Just like the Apostle Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This death, this dark night of the soul, this void, it is the process that many of us are so desperately afraid of. Why are YOU so afraid to trust the process? The Psalmist says, in Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

A Story about Mary

Let’s take a look at a familiar story from Luke 1:26-38.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary.

Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
“Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.”

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great, be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.”

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant!
Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said, “Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me just as you say.”
Then the angel left her.

Many people refer to this story as the foretelling of the birth of Jesus.

I suppose we could think of it that way, but I prefer the view it as a story about mary.

The Paraphrase

So, there was this young chick named Mary, right. She did not grow up in the best city. You know what mean? She was engaged to be married to a fly guy named Joseph. If you check Joseph’s “Ancestry.com” information, you would know that the Royal King David was in his family tree! Joseph came from “Good Stock.” Who knows? Maybe Mary was “on the come up”, maybe she was, “digging for gold” If you know what I mean…

Mary had a cousin who was old enough to be her grandma. Her cousin’s name was Elizabeth. I mean she was old, and she never could have any children, right? So, one day, this dude named Gabriel, like from another world, rolled up on Mary, and he was like, “Heyyyyyy! You’re beautiful! I mean God made you beautiful inside and out! Oh my goodness!”

Mary started shaking like all get out. She was scared AND suspicious! She was thinking, “What exactly does HE want? I’m already engaged to my man! He is everlasting too late. Please!”

Gabe was like, “Calm down! Chill out, yo! There’s no need for you to fear. God’s got a surprise for you girl! You ’bout to have a baby, BY GOD! It’s a gonna be a boy. Don’t stress. Just name him Jesus. Your boy is about to BLOW UP and it don’t stop! Oh, and ‘ol girl Lizzy? Yeah she’s about to have a boy, too! Y’all said she couldn’t, but God said she would! You see… nothing is impossible with God!

Mary said, “Ahhhhh – I see what you’re saying. I get it now! Gabe, you tell God that I said, “Bring it on. I’m in! Let’s do this!”

Then Gabriel said, “She’s in! Deuces. Now, I’m out!”

It’s in ya Bible just like that!

Stepping into the Void

The Ending or (Stage 1) for Mary was the moment the angel Gabriel declared to her that she would have a son. Until that moment, perhaps everything was going along just as planned for Mary. After all, she was engaged to be married to a man with royal blood running through his veins. But the moment Gabriel starts talking, Mary steps into The Void. And the very first emotion that Mary feels is, “fear.”

Why do you think “fear” is the most common emotion when we step into the void? After all of these years, why don’t we really trust God? What is this notion that we have some kind of “CONTROL” over ANYTHING? Our biggest fear is the fear of the unknown! When we have to die to an old way of being with no idea how to live into a new way of being… fear is a looming obstacle. It’s easy for us to judge Mary for having such a suspicious and fearful response because we know the end of the story. We know how it all turns out. But in the moment of the encounter, Mary had no idea. She stepped into the void.

Where Are You?

Where are you right now as you find yourself in transition? Perhaps you find yourself stepping into the Void. And like Mary, you may have no idea what will happen next. Or what your response will be. I am really grateful for the response from Mary. She felt the fear, and did it anyway. After Mary received the news that she would give birth to the son of God, she quickly accepted what was to take place. She surrendered her life to God.

Where are you?

  • Are you feeling the fear?
  • Are you moving forward anyway?
  • Are you surrendering to the process, to the transition that will move you from caterpillar to butterfly?
  • Are you willing to die to the old order?
  • Are you ready to live the Christ presence?

Even though your physical eyes may not see it yet, there really is a “Way” through the Void. Once Mary understood this powerful calling, she was able to move from fear to understanding, and then to acceptance. She was able to move from “Brain Stem” action (fight, flight, or freeze) to the “Prefrontal Cortex” action – I know I am safe. I know I am loved. What lesson must I understand?

When we step into the void, one of the first emotions if fear. It’s okay to know that you’re afraid. Will you harness the faith to just trust the process? The end may not be in site, but you know you are safe. You know you are loved.

May you go forward, asking the Divine, “What lesson must I understand? What surprise do you have for me?” I open my mind. I open my heart. My life is committed to following that path of the Universal Source of all knowing.

May it be so for each one of us today and in the days to come.

And so it is. Amen.