Dear Kim, Dimi, Beautiful thoughts, Dimi luv the picture...must be an awesome place to live. Thank you both for being the first to post here. Heres something I got in the mail today...interesting thoughts!! hugz n blessings Pauline 
The Ugly Duckling Becomes a Beautiful Swan
03/03/2009
The Phoenix rises from the
ashes. Cinderella rises from the cinders to become a queen. The Ugly
Duckling becomes a beautiful swan. Pinocchio becomes a real boy. The
frog becomes a prince. The Cowardly Lion gets his courage, the
Scarecrow his brains, and the Tin Woodman a new heart. They are all
transformed into the very thing they never thought they could be.
Why are we enchanted by tales of transformation? I can’t think of a
movie or novel or fairy tale that doesn’t somehow turn on this. Why is
it an essential part of any great story? Because it is the
secret to Christianity, and Christianity is the secret to the universe.
“You must be born again” (John 3:7). You must be transformed. Keeping
the Law, following the rules, polishing up your manners—none of that
will do. “What counts is whether we really have been changed into new
and different people” (Gal. 6:15). Is this not the message of the
Gospel? Zacchaeus the trickster becomes Zacchaeus the Honest One. Mary
the whore becomes Mary the Last of the Truly Faithful. Paul the
self-righteous murderer becomes Paul the Humble Apostle.
And us? I
doubt many of us would go so far as to say we’re transformed.
Perhaps we have changed a bit in what we believe and how we act. We
confess the creeds now, and we’ve gotten our temper under control . . .
for the most part. But “transformed” seems a bit too much to claim. How
about “forgiven and on our way”? That’s how most Christians would
describe what’s happened to them. It’s partly true . . . and partly untrue,
and the part that’s untrue is what’s killing us. We’ve been told that
even though we have placed our hope in Christ, even though we
have become his followers, our hearts are still desperately
wicked. And of course, so long as we believe that our hearts remain
untouched, unchanged, we will pretty much live untouched and unchanged.
For our heart is the wellspring of life within us.
(Waking the Dead , 56–57)
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