What is the nature of struggle? I believe I am not alone when I say much of my life has been about struggle. How are we going to make ends meet this month? What are we going to do about fixing the car? Are we able to meet the needs of our growing family? How can I possibly find the time to do that? How am I going to get my needs met when I feel compelled to give to meet the needs of others? The list is endless and surprisingly familiar to many people. If there are different questions raised by the nature of struggle, the fact we all find the subject relevant in our lives is telling. Simply put, struggle is contending with an opposing force or an adversary. Life is struggle. Just the very act of sitting, standing or walking puts our bodies in opposition to gravitational forces. For some these ordinary movements are not easy, especially if there are physical limitations due to age or infirmity and so even simple things we take for granted can be a struggle. But is struggle necessary? Consider this story.
A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. It just seemed to be stuck.
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| Moth resting on the sidewalk |
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was the way of forcing the fluid from around the body of the moth into its wings, so it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health. www.inspiring-quotes-and-stories.com/emperor-moth.html
I wrote a poem over 20 years ago about emerging from a cocoon.
Creation is a process ongoing. From the point of origin it begins, not unlike the caterpillar moving through this world. After a time of growth and development it stops,wraps in a cocoon and all its energies are directed toward the inner working. Out of this is transformed a butterfly, no longer limited to earth's surface, but airborne into the clouds. sam 1987
I was a newly trained Montessori teacher and I was eager to begin transforming my own life and those of the children I served. Two of those children were my own daughters, Lauryn and Krista. I notice I didn't mention any struggle then, just a fluid transformation. My children were little then and still close to me and I knew I could provide them with the gift of a Montessori education. But back then I already felt life to be a struggle, so there was no need to articulate it. It just was. Life is struggle, or is it? If we take the story of the emperor moth as a metaphor for our lives, it would seem we do need struggle to shape us and give us strength and character.
Our new koan is to look at the nature of struggle. What does it mean to struggle? Is striving for something beneficial? What if there were no such thing as struggle? How can we live lives of grace and ease and let go of struggle? Should we even try?
Had to think about this one a lot before commenting. It's all so profound. This reminds me of the the day I watched Naomi at age around eighteen months trying to unfasten the seat belt of her high chair. She wasn't in the chair but just wanted to unfasten it and fasten it. She worked and worked and worked. After a while she cried each time she couldn't get it. She never asked for help at all since she didn't need it unfastened but just wanted to learn it. I just sat and observed. It never occurred to assist her in any way. I felt it an honor to have an opportunity se witness such perseverance, passion, stamina, and independence in such a tiny person.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I imagine God looks down and smiles as we go through similar processes trying to get life "right" in the since of solving problems, reaching goals, discovering how life itself works as we go along. Often I have actually asked "How are you going to make this happen? I know I sure don't see how." My most stark example of that is the day I was driving home with my three children in my car that was starting to have mechanical issues. I was wondering how I could ever get a different car without so many issues. As I drove along I asked, "How are You going to take care of this?" (speaking to God) Within minutes someone hit my car from the side, his fault. The insurance money was enough to pay for a Honda Civic someone at my church happened to put up for sale during the time I had my brother looking for a car for me. That car served me with absolutely no issues for at least another ten years.
That particular struggle led me to a stronger belief that when I came to a point of actually need vs want, I really was not alone and God was in fact who He said He was, even my provider.
I was lIke Naomi with the chair. If she had actually needed to get in the chair, she would have asked for help. Since it was merely a desire, she was having fun challenging herself and conquering the world on her own.
When we see "struggle" more as "process" it becomes a fun challenge vs the usual experience of "struggle."
My two cents. : )
I resonated with your statement that it was an honor to watch Naomi in her procees of discovering the workings of the belt. If we could only keep the desire to pursue our passions alive as we enter into adulthood. Sadly, I believe we educate it out of our children. When did it become so difficult to watch our children struggle or grapple (if that is a less charged word) with challenges in their life? I think it may have to do with wanting everything to be perfect and struggle can be messy.
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