The Fire of Transformation

I am invited to speak tomorrow at Unity in the Olympics, and guide the congregation through a popular annual ritual called “The Burning Bowl Ceremony.” It is a symbolic ritual of release to pave a clear path forward in our lives. As I was contemplating my message leading up to the ceremony itself I came upon this missive I wrote in a writing class several years ago, called “The Fire of Transformation.” I plan to read this as a prelude to the burning bowl ceremony tomorrow and thought it might be useful to those of you who might also feel the impulse to release what you sense is either obscuring or obstructing your spiritual transformation. I will conclude this post with some further insights into the peril and promise of transformation.

The Fire of Transformation

By Larry Schellink

Sometimes I can’t stand the heat of it. It feels like a burning desire to exceed the boundaries of ordinary understanding. I would rather it burn out of my control at times so that my attempts to suppress a conflagration of purification would be in vain, and I would have the satisfaction of knowing that something much more primal than my instinct to control or manage my life had won the battle for dominance in a life held too close and feared too greatly.

The danger I suspect is not in letting the fire ravage my insecurities but in attempting to remain in a fireproof corner of security where nothing gets singed, but nothing gets refined, and all the certainties and reliable structures remain standing, as testimony to a familiar past, and barriers to a new possibility.

We are told as youngsters about the danger of fire. I fear that I’ve outgrown the value of that admonition and must give permission to experiment with what might be better off combusted, and ignited, either by passion or discontent, or a clear sense that what no longer should be stored could make a lovely bonfire; a pyre of an outmoded past.. I’ll look into this tinder box and see if a return to the fire would be an appropriate alchemy for some kindling that has kept me out of the flames for too long, and denied my transformation.

In Unity, and through the lens of Christian mysticism, we look to Jesus as a teacher of transformation, whose purpose in life was to realize and demonstrate a transformative relationship with God. His success in overcoming the limitations of mind/body identification and full realization of his oneness with God made Jesus the profound example of what's possible for humanity. Jesus had obviously made great progress in overcoming the illusions of mind/body identification when he entered Jerusalem on the fateful holy week, yet the grandest lesson of all awaited him there. Most of us could not imagine a more gut-wrenching faith-destroying scenario, than abandonment and betrayal by friends, and bodily torture and crucifixion. Was Jesus tempted to back away from this dreadful fate? Yes, we know he doubted his mission in the Garden by his passionate plea that the cup of his fate be taken from him. However, Jesus ultimately knew that a complete realization of his spiritual essence would need to stand up to all tests. If love were the greatest power in the universe, it would not fail him even through this horrendous ordeal. It was only in going through the most convincing illusion of separation from life and love, that Jesus could establish for himself (and all of us) that Life and Love are eternal truths, not vagaries of human life. Stripped of the last vestiges of his ego, Jesus was able to emerge from the tomb of darkness, and bear witness to the Light of truth that nothing can extinguish nor diminish. He fulfilled his supreme purpose and was transformed by and through his difficult journey. Perhaps you are facing the prospect of a difficult journey right now in your life. You may feel trepidation as you contemplate the risks of what lies ahead. You may be tempted to back off and take a safer course. I invite you to ask yourself this question before deciding how to proceed: What is my supreme purpose in this life? What is infinite Love and Life seeking to express through my life right now? From that deeper sense of self, you may find guidance and strength to take a truer course. I have not always walked courageously into risky situations. Sometimes I saved my skin and abandoned my spirit. During those times when I did muster the courage to face the dragons of uncertainty and fear, I was often rewarded to discover something much greater and truer in me. This is the promise and peril of the spiritual life. When we are committed to a journey of transformation, when our desire to know Spirit intimately, as an indwelling presence that never leaves us, we are drawn through the refining fire of circumstances. This can be painful as the narrow gate of truth strips away our entrenched but false beliefs of who we think we are so that our true self might emerge on the other side of change. As Eckhart Tolle says, any kind of loss leaves an emptiness, and you don't run away from emptiness as it is an opening into the formless. Our safety is not in preserving forms but in realizing the formless, or Being itself. The gates of transformation are wide open for you. Go ahead and enter, trembling if you must, knowing God goes with you, keeping you safe and free. Namaste,

Rev. Larry