Change is not comfortable

Come see! Come see! I called to my housemate's kids, and they came running. Slowly I turned around and revealed a beautiful orange Passion butterfly (also known as Gulf fritillary) hanging from the underside of my hand. It had hatched moments before and was still drying its wings. They gazed in amazement and excitement at seeing a butterfly so close and so still. A dozen questions poured forth, and their curiosity and wonder mingled with mine. All too soon the butterfly flew away, but I suspected that where there was one chrysalis, there might be others and so we started looking.

Next to where I park my car, there's a beautiful Purple Passionflower vine. The long tendrils of the vine have slowly crept over the fence, the bushes, and even a small tree, but I've enjoyed seeing the large, intricate flowers in bloom. As we were walking along the fence looking for possible chrysalises, I noticed some bright orange caterpillars with rows of black spines munching away on the Passionflower leaves. We saw one... two... five... ten caterpillars... There were so many!

Looking around some more, I spotted a chrysalis hanging from the fence, then another and another. While I was intently examining the vine, a Passion butterfly landed on a Passionflower leaf in front of me and deposited a tiny yellow egg. I was thrilled! We are studying insects this week with the kids and I wanted to discuss the butterfly life cycle. However, I had not expected to be able to SHOW them the life cycle...this was so much better than just talking about it.

We found one of the caterpillars climbing up the side of the house and I decided it would be the perfect specimen for observation. The kids and I carefully placed the caterpillar in a large container with some twigs for it to climb on. By the evening, it had selected a spot on the twig to begin spinning a white, silk-like spot. I was sure that by the next day it would have transformed into a chrysalis, but the next morning it was still there, hanging upside down on the white silk anchor. By noon, the caterpillar's color had changed from bright orange to a grayish color. At various intervals throughout the day we observed its skin contracting as it slowly prepared itself for its transformation into a chrysalis. It seemed to be taking forever. Finally, about 24 hours after it had created its silk anchor point, the caterpillar metamorphosed into a chrysalis. The change happened within the span of about 1 minute and I was so excited to be able to watch the whole process. (I apologize for the poor quality of the video. I was taking pictures through a plastic jar full of scratches).

Metamorphosis means change or transformation. Did you know that the Bible also talks about metamorphosis? In Romans 12:2 it says, "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye TRANSFORMED (the Greek says metamorphose) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Also in 2 Corinthians 3:18 it says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are CHANGED into the same image from glory to glory..."

Observing the caterpillar's complete transformation process has really made me wonder at the transformation God wants for us to go through. While the caterpillar changed into a chrysalis, it struggled and squirmed from side to side; as the butterfly emerged from the chrysalis, it too struggled to push itself out. It appears that change is not a comfortable process. But once the old self has been done away with, what joy and beauty will we experience? That is something I can only wonder at!