Dear Friends, September 18, 2006

Click on the pages to the right to see the questions.

Seventy Days! What will you be like seventy days from now? What will happen to you? One thing is certain: you will be a different person. Your mind, your body, and your world are changing, growing, maturing, and aging. It has been said that the only thing really permanent is change.

Metamorphosis is a journal to guide you in your changes and to record some of the changes being made. The title, Metamorphosis is the Greek word that is translated transformation. The apostle Paul wrote that transformation comes about with a change of mind. Our mind is changed as we hear, as we see, as we understand, as we reflect, and as we act.

Paul also wrote that God is the one who brings about transformation. We need to put out the effort, but ultimately it will be God who helps us put it together.

Whereas you will be changed whether you want to or not, you will not be transformed unless you are intentional about it. You need to participate in situations that will change you, in situations that will stretch you and challenge you. You will need to
read,
study,
reflect,
question,
answer,
and pray.

Metamorphosis is intended to be used during the course The Parables of Jesus: Transforming Pictures, a course that examines the ways Jesus places new pictures, indelible images, in our minds with his parables. The transforming pictures are of God, faith, forgiveness, love, prayer, hope, grace, and discipleship.

One of the purposes of this blog is to help you reflect on the current session and to prepare for the next week’s session. Use the blog to guide your reading and reflect on the transforming power of Jesus’ teaching in the parables. Read what other students are saying! During each week respond with words, pictures, music, dance, quiet meditation to:
sharpen your hearing,
intensify your seeing,
expand your understanding,
deepen your focusing,
inspire your reflecting, and
empower your acting.

Be transformed!!