Cocooning

This year, my 40th birthday is on the third day of Easter! I've heard it said that not for another century (or more) will Easter fall this early on the calendar. And so even though I'm turning The BIG 4-0, I think this birthday might be extra special because of March 25th's allignment with the Easter season. Could it be?

After the double-drama on Maundy Thursday (see previous post Story Weaver) I woke up at 4:00 AM unable to sleep. The 4-0 on the clock made me think of my 40th birthday. So, I crept into the living room, grabbed a present from Sally that was waiting perched on the entertainment center, and opened--EARLY!

Wrapped in blue paper with blue ribbon was a small butterfly jewelry box, and a book, The Spirit of Butterflies: Myth, Magic, and Art. It's an enchanting collection of writings and images that I'll treasure and revisit often. (Thanks for knowing me and supporting my spiritual journey, Sal!) In the book's introduction, author Maraleen Manos-Jones reflects on the special fascination with butterflies:

". . .my strong feeling is that we need butterflies to remind us that positive change is possible, that there is magic to life, and that we have to be mindful of our surroundings, because if we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. Butterflies awaken our spirits and open our hearts. They give us a sense of hope and the possibility of our own transformation and evolution."

My heart's prayer is for personal growth, healing, CHANGE. I need to break free from fetters of shame, doubt, and fear. (I AM growing and changing, but it feels like I've been praying this prayer forever!) And so it makes sense that the butterfly is an image to which I'm drawn.

I've never really thought of the butterfly as an Easter image. But even more than bunnies and eggs, IT IS the perfect symbol of resurrection!! Manos-Jones explains:

"In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius I issued a pontifical decree declaring that Christ was a caterpillar, for not only did he humble himself and was humbled, but he was also resurrected: Vermis quia resurrexit (The worm [caterpillar] has risen again.) The chrysalis represents the tomb, the place where the miraculous resurrection takes place, from which the soul rises, and the beautiful free-flying butterfly, of course, symbolizes Christ's spirit reborn. Even today, in the west of France, the Cleopatra butterfly, which appears in early spring, is called the Easter Jesus.

It's because of the RISEN Christ that there is HOPE for change. Loving Creator, and Cocoon-spinner, help me to walk in Easter-life. Help me to recognize, nurture, celebrate, and draw from the Spirit of You IN me.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17