Caterpillars Can't Fly

 

Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. (Romans 12:1-3)

Caterpillars can’t fly. But butterflies can (only a bit different than birds do).

Caterpillars don’t fly, yet I wonder if they might be born with deep, innate cravings to do so….

If caterpillars are destined to fly, yet have no equipment to do so, isn’t that the ultimate frustration?

What is the identity of a caterpillar? Is that identity permanent, or temporary?

Does a caterpillar have any choice in whether or not it ever becomes a butterfly?

Does a caterpillar spend its life aspiring and striving to fly in order to be recognized or accepted?

Do you imagine there could be a market in offering classes to instruct caterpillars how to fly?

How might berating a caterpillar for not yet flying well help it become a butterfly?

How might condemning a caterpillar for indulging its fleshly lusts of appetite motivate it toward living differently? Would this provide incentive toward greatness and glory?

Caterpillars spend much of their lives munching on food that greatly irritates farmers and sometimes destroying the very plants they depend on for sustenance. They also live in constant danger from bird attacks along with human applied chemical sprays intended to kill them. So are caterpillars evil and useless? Are they nothing more than pests? From our perspective they can certainly cause damage to crops and vegetation, so what is to believed about their worth and identity?

Caterpillars seem to be extremely self-centered and gluttonous. They eat voraciously and some get very fat. Yet despite all their hard work, their food consumption, only serves to unfit themselves even more against the possibility of them ever being able to fly. The laws of physics prevent them from flying for all sorts of reasons. So what would be the point of trying to convince a caterpillar that it was really destined to fly, if such tantalizing specters would only serve to bring on deeper depression and cause them to turn to eating even more to medicate their frustrated desires to fly?

Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Transformed – from the Greek word metamorphoo: to transform (literally or figuratively, "metamorphose"):--change, transfigure, transform.

Clearly a caterpillar in its current condition would never be able to fly (that is unless a strong wind knocks it off a plant and the free fall to the ground could pass for flying. Or maybe a tornado could take it for an extended spin through the air). But caterpillars simply cannot fly even if they did try, and to deny this fact of reality is to ignore the laws of gravity, aerodynamics and many other principles of creation. So why would God design caterpillars with the ultimate destiny to fly, if in their current condition it remains far outside all possibility for them to accomplish?

God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)

Of course what we are discussing here is an analogy God Himself designed in nature to describe our own spiritual destiny, to give us a vivid illustration of why we are born with such deep, strong longings to live out our lives in ways far beyond our present capacity to experience in our current condition. This is not merely a phenomenon of nature but provides key insights into how we may trust and cooperate with God’s work in us, not only to accurately reflect His image but to even come to be like Him, to have His likeness.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. (1 John 3:2)

Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

This is the very same word as in Romans 12, and it only is used four times in the New Testament. This transformation here is not instantaneous but describes a period of processing that has a beginning and an end point after which what was previously impossible for a caterpillar to accomplish becomes the most natural and delightfully lovely activity of a butterfly. Yet both of them are the same entity but obviously extremely different in function and appearance.

Transformation or metamorphosis into the likeness God for a human being could mean coming to be able to fly similar to how God lives, in glorious beauty, attractiveness, gentleness and delight, with sunlight glistening off its wings filled with brilliant colors and startling designs and dancing on the gentle breezes. The expression comes to mind, free as a bird.

Did you know that caterpillars have no capacity for sexual reproduction? They have no ability to reproduce after their own kind. But butterflies can reproduce as well as all the other things it enjoys.

God’s Word is creative, reproductive, and we were created after His kind, meaning we are destined to share in the joy of creating and propagating more beings in His image as we are being transformed into His likeness. But something radical must happen before a caterpillar can ever fly or even reproduce. The same applies to every human being. Jesus said as much one night to a curious but skeptical religious leader who was feeling strange stirrings and desires he couldn’t understand.

Jesus answered him, "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into the Kingdom of God! That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don't marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:3-8)

Isn’t that descriptive of how butterflies usually get from one place to another efficiently? If a Monarch butterfly had to flap its wings all the time to get anywhere without a breeze, it would not be able to traverse the thousands of miles to fulfill its innate instincts placed in them by God. This is what Jesus likely had in mind when He referred to the wind blowing without our understanding or control of where or how it moves. We were never meant to know everything, but rather to find greatest fulfillment of our God-given desires by trusting God for the wind to carry us along to wherever He desires for us to go. This is how we ‘prove’ the good pleasure and will of God in our lives.

Here is what spawned this study in the first place. Following is a text I sent to a friend outlining the core idea that was condensing in my imagination that blossomed into exploring this fascinating idea more fully.

I have been laying awake for over an hour this morning listening and dialoging with Spirit, and what was impressed on me after waking up from a strange but significant dream, was that God presently has me in a cocoon and I am in serious metamorphosis mode right now. It reminded me of a fascinating video I copied years ago on what is actually happens inside a cocoon during the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. I sense this may explain why I have been having so many meltdowns lately.

What scientists have learned using MRI’s is that during this time inside the ‘womb’ of a cocoon, nearly all the elements of the caterpillar literally melt down into something akin to chemical soup with a few exceptions involving parts of a few of the original organs. Yet while all the components and chemicals are melted down, the built-in DNA provides instructions for all these raw ingredients to become reorganized in a radical new design and turned into an entirely new creature very different from how it entered the cocoon. The Spirit reminded me that there was no infusion of new material from outside, meaning everything that constitutes the butterfly was already present when the caterpillar first wrapped itself inside the protective shield of the cocoon dangling precariously by a thin but very strong thread until the entire process was completed.

I perceive that thread as representing the faith of Jesus that I cling to while this confusing, disorienting yet amazing orchestrated re-creation happens inside of me. What this means is that everything God has been teaching me and bringing for me to embrace and understand my whole life, is not to be discarded. Rather many of these elements and truths are being rearranged, reinterpreted with fresh perspective and re-birthed through the power of the Holy Spirit who alone can successfully pull off this miracle of transformation of my entire perspective of reality.

My job is to cling to the faith of Jesus rather than my faith, to soak in the love of God for new perspective rather than clinging to my past or attempting to make changes with my power. As I rest and trust that the Spirit can and will finish what He began in me so long ago. Right now I may feel like everything is in extreme meltdown mode, yet if I cooperate and let go of resistance, the sooner a new creature will emerge to soar in the brilliant sunlight rich in colors and joy as the wind of the Spirit carries me wherever God’s will desires and guides me. Even now I can begin to celebrate life and bring hope and encouragement to other caterpillars to not be afraid of entering their cocoon and let go of control over their life.

A caterpillar is an analogy of living in the flesh. It is constantly binging, consuming and even destroying leaves and plants while irritating gardeners who try to kill them. Caterpillars work and strive and lust for more and more, but one thing is for certain – they will never learn to fly. Expecting a caterpillar to fly defies the laws of physics and is an impossibility. Its like they live under the law and view everything and everyone around them according to the flesh as Paul puts it. That’s the only life and perspective they know, and they can’t be blamed for it. Yet what is their true identity and purpose in life? Are they destined to live and die simply as caterpillars, or are they strangely destined to fly away on wings in the wind that would seem clearly absurd to them in their present reality?

Attempting to convince a caterpillar who is diligently stuffing his fat body full of more food at the expense of plants and irate gardeners, would certainly sound ridiculous. Yet from our perspective we are aware of something the caterpillar would find preposterous – that he/she is destined for greatness, that they will soon soar up on wings (not quite equivalent to eagle’s wings) and will then glisten in the glorious sunlight.

A caterpillar operates on simply instinct. Yet I believe God designed things like this in nature that inform us of important truths about our own relationship to God. In our case it requires exercise of our power of choice to cooperate with being wrapped up into a cocoon experience. We can resist or even refuse, but if we consent we may be transformed by the renewing of our mind by the power of God’s Spirit so that our whole psyche and way of perceiving reality becomes radically altered. This is God’s intent and passionate plan for us, to bring us into an experience of exponential satisfaction far beyond anything we can imagine presently if we will simply be willing.

I cannot contribute to the recreation process going on in me right now. I can resist it or try to refute or hijack it or even choose to perceive it as threatening to how I have always believed. Like a skeptical caterpillar from ground perspective, I could insist on clinging to traditional interpretations of Scripture and common views of what the gospel means. I could do that to avoid stirring up anxiety or resentment from those around me, but I have learned that its never safe to resist the Holy Spirit for very long.

But God…, ah yes, I love how those two words can radically alter everything and upset everyone expectations and beliefs. But God longs for me to enter into His rest, so if I submit to this cocoon process until He releases me into the glorious warmth of the sunlight of His passionate love for me that will dry and strengthen my new wings, I will be propelled into a new dimension and become closer to the likeness of God. After all, that was God’s original design at creation, to develop my character into His likeness and reflect His glory for all eternity.

One more interesting fact about caterpillars and butterflies. Caterpillars have no capacity to reproduce after their own kind. Only butterflies have capacity to enjoy the bliss of reproduction and all that goes with it. So much to ponder here, but it is all from the Spirit of freedom and truth and love.