YELLOW the butterfly

This story can be found inside a book entitled Finding Freedom by Joyce Huggett.  Joyce, was at one time my Spiritual Director.  I feel so privileged to be able to say that.  Joyce retired from her Ministry and Writings, left their Derbyshire home and retreat house and took up residence in Bournemouth with her husband David, a retired Church of England Minister.  Joyce has since suffered with Alzheimer's Disease and sadly we are no longer in touch.  Her life changed mine, she was someone I aspired to be like.  Her Quiet Days/workshops/retreats and books were inspirational and touched my soul.  This in particular has had a long lasting affect:

This is the story of Yellow.....  I retype it from Joyce's book not knowing the original author as it wasn't referenced.  Read slowly and thoughtfully;     Enjoy.....

Yellow was a caterpillar who often dreamt of freedom but whose concept of the world of butterflies and flight was blurred and confused.

One day, when, as usual, thoughts of butterflies were occupying her caterpillar-brain, she came across a curious sight: a grey haired caterpillar hanging upside down on a branch.  Seeing that he was caught in some kind of hairy stuff, Yellow offered her assistance.

'You seem in trouble.......can I help?'
'No, my dear, I have to do this to become a butterfly.'

A butterfly! Yellow's caterpillar-heart leapt.  Could this be her great opportunity?

'Tell me, sir, what is a butterfly?'
'It's what you are meant to become.  It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven......?

Yellow's heart somersaulted in hope.  'Me! A butterfly? It can't be true! .... How can I believe there's a butterfly inside you and me, when all I see is a fuzzy worm?'
'How does one become a butterfly?' she added, pensively.
'You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.'
'You mean to .... die? asked Yellow.
'Yes.... and.... No,' he answered.  'What looks like you will die but what's really you will still live.  Life is changed, not taken away.  Isn't that different from those who die without ever becoming butterflies?'
'And if I decide to become a butterfly,' said Yellow hesitantly, 'what do I do?'
'Watch me.  I'm making a cocoon.  It looks like I'm hiding, I know, but a cocoon is no escape.  It's an in-between house where the change takes place.  It's a big step, since you can never return to caterpillar life.  During the change, it will seem to you or anyone who might peep that nothing is happening - but the butterfly is already becoming.  It just takes time!'

Yellow was torn with anguish.  What if she became this thing called butterfly and her friends failed to recognise this new self?  At least she knew that caterpillars can crawl and eat and love in a limited way.  What happens if a caterpillar gets stuck in a cocoon?  Could she risk losing the only life she had known when it seemed so unlikely she could ever become a glorious winged creature?  All she had to go on was a caterpillar who believed sufficiently to take the leap of faith.  And hope.

The grey-haired caterpillar continued to cover himself with silky threads.  As he wove the last bit around his head he called:

'You'll be a beautiful butterfly - we're all waiting for you!' 

And Yellow decided to take the risk.  For courage she hung right beside the cocoon and began to spin her own.

'Imagine, I didn't even know I could do this.  That's some encouragement that I'm on the right track.  If I have inside me the stuff to make cocoons - maybe the stuff of butterflies is there too.'

And, of course, the stuff of butterflies was there.  Yellow eventually emerged a brilliant, yellow winged creature - a wonderful sight!