The Story of The Cocoon

On Sunday we read the story of Jacob’s struggle with … what?  An angel?  A man?  God?  Maybe himself?  He was changed for life by this hard encounter.  Why would God who loves us let us experience pain and struggle?  Here is the story I shared.

A man found a cocoon and expected a beautiful moth to emerge. He took it home to watch.  One day, he saw a little hole in the cocoon.  He stared in wonder for hours as the moth struggled to force its body through the little hole. After a while, it stopped making headway; it seemed to be stuck.  So the man decided to help.  With scissors, he cut away the last bit of cocoon.  The moth popped out easily, so he was relieved.  But the moth had a swollen body and shriveled-up wings. He kept watching, expecting the wings to enlarge, spread, support the body, and then the moth would fly away.  It never happened.  The moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings – never able to fly.  What didn’t the man understand?  The tight cocoon and the moth’s struggle to get through the hole were nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it could fly once it was free.  Freedom and flight only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of the struggle, the man deprived it of health and freedom.  If we live life without any obstacles or struggles, we too would be crippled. We would not be as strong or truth-filled as we could be, even though we’d bear scars like Jacob.  Each struggle is an opportunity to grow to a new beyond, to fly free of constraining cocoons of preconception and fear.

Peace and grace to you,
Pastor Carol

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