Transformation!
I believe in God…….The Apostle’s Creed, a statement of belief. Many of us say it. It emphasizes and summarizes what we Christians believe. But is believing enough? I personally don’t think so. I started to think about this after I read something in The One Thing is Three by Fr. Michael Gaitley. In it he talks about the second coming of Christ and what that means.
He writes: Recall that our final end is communion with the Trinity. That’s the goal, the destination of our journey. We all go back with Christ, to the Father, in the Spirit by being transformed in Christ. Alright, in a sense, this is how the Lord comes again: When his Body goes to him, when we “form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature” (Eph. 4:13), when God will bring “all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ’s headship” (Eph. 1:10), when God becomes “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28)
He goes on to quote the Acts of the Apostles: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Fr. Gaitley explains: it’s when his Body goes to him in the same way that he went, namely, by being “lifted up.” I suggest that our being “lifted up” is not only the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time, but also our ongoing transformation in Christ and that all this is included in the mystery of how the Lord will come.
Fr. Gaitley’s words made so much sense and at the same time got me wondering how it applies to our lives. In reviewing prior posts I noticed that I’ve been inspired quite often to write about transformation; how to be transformed; what helped transform me; what it means to be transformed, etc. Sometimes I read the posts and think to myself – why do I keep harping on transformation? What’s the big deal? It FINALLY makes sense to me now. Believing is just not enough. Our belief MUST lead to transformation in order for us to “go back with Christ, to the Father, in the Spirit.”
Think about it in terms of baking. You can buy cream cheese, vanilla, eggs, etc.- mix it all together, pour it into a baking pan and put it in the oven. Within an hour or so you would hope that all those ingredients mixed together will eventually transform into a delicious, creamy cheesecake. Without the transformation, all you have is a bunch of separate ingredients coming together in a bowl and not reaching their full potential.
So why is believing NOT enough? Because “just believing” is like the ingredients in the bowl. Believing is a piece of the puzzle but believing alone does not help us reach our full potential. Think about it. Our belief leads us to attend liturgy on Sunday. It may lead us to receive the sacraments, pray and read the Bible. It may even lead to our desire to do some spiritual reading in addition to Scripture. The truth is, we can do many different things to prove our faith but if our actions don’t lead to transformation then we totally miss the point of the Gospel. If we miss the point, then we are faithful Christians who don’t know enough or aren’t transformed enough to actually practice what we preach or believe. THAT’S why believing is not ENOUGH!
In the Gospel of Matthew 24:36-44: Jesus tells us “but of that day and hour no one knows…..” and He warns us to be prepared. If we approach this verse in the way Fr. Gaitley suggests then I get the sense that we’re being encouraged to prepare/transform our souls for Christ. We’re being warned against just going through the motions. If you want Him to “come” then prepare a place for Him. How often do people complain about not being able to see the presence of God in their lives. But how have they prepared?
I have to admit, I have always felt a strong connection to God. I practically grew up in the church. Never have I been more aware of His presence in my life than in these past several years where I have made a conscious effort to maintain a rigorous spiritual practice of meditation, lectio, liturgy of the hours, spontaneous prayer and mass attendance. I have been “preparing” and each day brings a new set of challenges as well as awesome fruits of my labor. I liken my challenges to the “oven” in my baking example. I see challenges as part of the purification process that’s going to help transform me into the person God intended me to be.
Transformation for me means positive change. It is the slow process of becoming a bit better than we used to be. When I say “better” I don’t mean better according to the world’s standards but better in the eyes of God. I mention the “slow process” because transformation doesn’t happen overnight nor can we expect it to. What does transformation look like? For me it looks like this: going from a need to always be right to realizing being right doesn’t really matter; going from being argumentative (my nature as a lawyer) to keeping silent and just breathing through the resistance; moving from a place of separateness and individualism to making a conscious effort to love all things and realizing “everything belongs” as Richard Rohr says. These are just some ways I see myself transforming but of course, I’m still a work in progress.
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