The Art of Transformation

 The Everlasting Art of Transformation

Transformation: to alter or change dramatically in form or appearance

The word played out in multiple ways for me this week. 

 

Everyone...even the grands
 are working!

First, my youngest daughter and her husband bought a new house. Actually it is an old house, but new to them. Built when I was in grade school, the house has had many additions and makeovers through the years. We spent several days removing wallpaper from the dining room, bedroom, and hall. There is more to go. 

 

As we work, we talk about ways the space can be further updated. Remodeled. Transformed. 

 

It is a work in progress. Then again, aren’t we all?

 

On Sunday, my mother and I went with my oldest daughter to the theater to see a Broadway production of My Fair Lady. It was a Christmas gift from Allison and well worth the wait. If you don’t remember the premise of the story, Henry Higgins boasts he can transform a lowly girl peddling flowers on the street into a “lady” by changing her Cockney dialect and accent to the King’s English. Eliza Doolittle, the flower girl, likes the idea of working in a proper flower shop. Make no mistake… it is her decision to seek out the promised transformation. Over the course of a few weeks, she learns to speak “properly” and dress for high society.

My Fair Lady

I told my daughter I couldn't remember how the play ended. When the final curtain fell, I realized the end was intentionally ambiguous. That notion hit me when I recognized Eliza, though refined and accepted in high social circles is still a work in progress. Then again, aren’t we all?

 

Finally, our Tuesday morning Bible study group is learning about people named in the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles. We tend to think or at least I tend to think of those early Christians as heroes of some sort. They have all the answers, right? Wrong. They are all people being transformed. Altered. Changed. They are believers. They are seeking God’s will for their lives. They are muddling through. They are a work in progress. Then again, aren’t we all?

 

We can paint the walls of our house. We can change our looks. We can change the way we speak or act. Those transformations, though dramatic, are from the outside in. The early Christians as well as all of us who continue to grow in our relationship with God? Those transformations are from the inside out.

 

I suppose it comes down to this: Décor changes. The style of clothing changes. What is popular today will likely be out of style in a few years. God never changes. So while a few hours scraping wallpaper off the dining room ceiling or trying to dress appropriately for a given occasion is worthwhile, subtle but dramatic transformations of the heart and mind last forever.