“Prison can be a tomb
or a womb
A cocoon of transformation,
the darkness
becoming a metamorphosis.
A triumph born of adversity,
giving no counsel to the fear.”
-from a poem entitled “Transformation,” by Gary F., a CLF member incarcerated in South Carolina
“We have so many opportunities to bless each other in this world, but they don’t always announce themselves as moments of profound transformation. I choose to plant seeds of life wherever I can, just in case. I may never know whose song I’ll amplify in the process.” -Lindasusan Ulrich, from their Braver/Wiser reflection “Amplified a Thousandfold”
How have you been transformed by a seed of kindness planted by another?
The metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly entails the complete dissolution of the caterpillar’s body into liquid. Recently, however, scientists have discovered that the butterfly remembers things that the caterpillar learned. Somehow, even in that liquid, important memories are sustained.
How have you held important memory through a time of transformation?
”If we don’t find a way to transform our pain, we will always transmit it to those around us or turn it against ourselves… If your religion is not teaching you how to recognize, hold, and transform suffering, it is junk religion.”
—Fr. Richard Rohr
How have you transformed pain into something meaningful?
