Dying and Flying (Easter 2023)

i used to conceive

(and sometimes still do)

that a Butterfly was simply

a Caterpillar with wings

and even though i knew

that this simply wasn't true

i kept reverting to that image

imbedded in my thick-skulled brain 

(despite the scientific knowledge)

because i didn't want to acknowledge

(and sometimes still don't)

that in order to enter into

the natural journey of evolving

the Caterpillar has to surrender

its Self to devolving and dissolving

and dissipating and disintegrating

within a claustrophobic cocoon

into a blob of gelatinous goo

allowing the primal courses

and forces of Life

to pulverize it down

into a pulp

not unlike People 

who followed Pillars of Cloud

by day and Fire by night

and others who traveled 

with the Light of the World

into the night of arrest and trial

and betrayal and denial

and death and burial

beneath a Sacred Shroud

and all of Us who breathe

and believe that letting go

and opening our Selves to Another 

is worth all of the risk

(even of Life itself)

in order to connect and engage

in the Sacred Space of the Heart

and Soul of that Beloved Other

People smitten and shaken

by the ecstasy and agony

of life-changing Love 

enraptured and captured

celebrated and castigated

consummated and crucified 

awakened and forsaken

into a chasm deep within

the Womb of Being

where the Power

of illuminating darkness

pulls us down into

disorienting depths

and plunges us further

into a claustrophobic cocoon 

of our deepest dreams 

and most fantastical fears

(which tempt us to hold on

to what we think we know

of our Selves and Lives)

the pressure dislodging

the tomb containing

our most threatening

terrors unleashing

primal pain

and terrifying

Transcendent tears

and what has been 

concealed is revealed

in the Light and Heat

that melts our Selves

down into a mush

of muck and mirey

Mystery that dissolves

and devolves all that's 

left of our histories

into a pulverized pulp

a gelatinous goo

of what used

to be (yet 

is still) You 

no longer

feeling real

or true

until

You are 

roused by Rhythm

moved by Mystery

stirred by Spirit

and what felt like

a desecration becomes

a Revelation of Re-Creation

a rejection transforms into

a Resurrection of Reconciliation

an embracing of the yins and yangs

of our mortality and Divinity

(not unlike the Christ)

where the tomb was actually a Womb

and the cocoon was the Chamber

where the Caterpillar surrendered

its crawling and scrawling Self

to be reborn in the Love that smoulders

and burns like a brilliant unquenchable Fire

as a Beautiful Beloved Buoyant Butterflyer

a living Incarnation of the perpetual Resurrection

that is all around Us and among Us

(and even within Us)

and the Love that is on the loose

radiating its Light and Heat

in Your Eyes and Mine

and searches farther

and deeper and higher

than the steeples

of a billion churches

a reverberating Reminder

that like a Caterpillar with Wings

might be brilliantly Beautiful

but can't fly because its body

is too big for its Wings

(hence the need to let go

of all it thinks it knows

about Life and Self) 

so we were created

less as crawlers

who carry our fears

and more as Flyers

who allow Love

to bury them

and integrate them

into our Being

and bare our Wings

to the world

as Beautiful Bearers

of Limitless Love

and Endless new Birth

resonating throughout

the Earth

Sea and Sky

that we 

have to learn

how to die

if we not only

want to be alive

but if we

want to Fly...

Thanks.

#600wordprayers #Easter2023 #ChristIsRisen #LoveNeverDies #WeHaveToLearnHowToDieIfWeWantToFly #TheGospelAccordingToWilcoFTW

('Resurrection' © Mark Jennings)