The Awareness and Acceptance of Becoming
by Jasmine Bellamy
Stillpoint Executive Director
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“Awakening is not a thing. It is not a goal, not a concept. It is not something to be attained. It is a metamorphosis. If the caterpillar thinks about the butterfly it is to become...there will never be a butterfly. The caterpillar must accept its own disappearance in its transformation. When the marvelous butterfly takes wing, nothing of the caterpillar remains.”
From caterpillar to butterfly.
Perhaps this is one of the ways Love works.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Transforming us from the inside out.
Every season has its invitation.
This summer at Stillpoint, that invitation is transformation.
We often speak of transforming businesses, organizations, or culture. Yet transformation takes on its deepest meaning when we turn our attention to the human spirit.
Perhaps butterflies have long captured our imagination because they reveal something true about the spiritual life. For me, they have become a symbol of my own journey of transformation. As Jodorowsky reminds us, becoming requires a willingness to let go before we can receive what is new. The caterpillar cannot cling to what has been and become what it is created to be. Neither can we.
This is not easy work. Thankfully, we are not left to navigate it alone. Through contemplative practices like Centering Prayer and the wisdom of faithful guides, we are gently invited into the lifelong work of becoming. This summer, our Stillpoint community turns to one of those guides, Fr. Thomas Keating, whose The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation offers profound wisdom for the journey.
Keating understood the human condition as our shared experience of fear and hope, grief and joy, love and loss, and our tendency to live disconnected from God, one another, and even our truest selves. Contemplative practice meets us there, inviting us toward healing, freedom, and wholeness.
Like the caterpillar becoming the butterfly, we, too, are becoming. Keating believed the spiritual journey is one of gently releasing the false self so that we might, in his words, “become the word of God and manifest God rather than the false self.”
Keating returns often to two deceptively simple questions:
Where am I?
Not geographically, but spiritually. What fears shape me? What stories am I believing? What attachments keep me from freedom?
Who are you?
Who is God? Who is my neighbor? Who am I beneath the layers of performance and self-protection?
Contemplation invites us to live these questions rather than rush to answer them. It is not about becoming someone else, but consenting to become who we have always been in God.
At Stillpoint, we understand spiritual formation as the lifelong journey of becoming more fully ourselves in God. Every gathering, retreat, and shared silence is an invitation to nurture pathways to wholeness together.
Becoming Together
Transformation is never meant to be a solitary journey.
One of the gifts of the contemplative path is discovering companions who help us see more clearly, pray more deeply, and trust the slow work of Love. Throughout this season, each of our Contemplative Gatherings opens another doorway into the journey of becoming.
Rev. Nhien Vuong invited us into the relationship between Centering Prayer and the Enneagram, two practices that gently awaken us to our deepest identity in God. The recording remains available, and Spiritual Directors interested in Enneagram certification are invited to learn more here. (please add link)
Our journey continues on August 16 as we welcome Pastor and Spiritual Director Tia Norman. Drawing from the wisdom of Fr. Thomas Keating, Tia will guide us through his understanding of the Human Condition, the false self, the Program for Happiness, Divine Therapy, and the Welcoming Prayer. If this reflection has stirred something within you, Tia’s teaching offers an opportunity to move from reading Keating to practicing his wisdom.
On September 13, Lisa Colón DeLay will introduce us to the wisdom of the Desert Elders, where silence, simplicity, and faithful presence become pathways toward inner freedom.
Whether you join us for one gathering or all three, we hope you will discover what countless seekers throughout history have learned: transformation happens slowly, gently, and often in the company of others.
Registration is now open.
Individual Gathering: $25
Complete Three-Part Series: $60
Your participation also helps provide scholarships for others who long to explore the contemplative life and the practice of spiritual direction. Learn More HERE.
Celebrating Return to the Shack
As our exploration of contemplation and transformation continues this fall, we are delighted to celebrate the release of William Paul Young’s highly anticipated new book, Return to the Shack (debuting October 6), with a special one-day virtual retreat.
Returning to the Shack: A Retreat on Love, Contemplative Living, and Spiritual Activism
Featuring Author William Paul Young
October 17, 2026
Online Via Zoom
More than fifteen years after The Shack invited millions into a deeper encounter with God’s love, Return to the Shack continues that journey with fresh wisdom for today. We are honored to welcome Paul Young to Stillpoint just days after the release of his new book. Together we’ll explore what it means to return—not simply to a beloved story, but to the Love that continually calls us into healing, freedom, and faithful presence.
Registration is now open. Learn more HERE.
As we move from summer into autumn, we invite you to continue this journey of becoming with us. From Centering Prayer to the wisdom of the Desert Elders, and now through Paul’s invitation to return again to Love, each gathering offers another step along the contemplative path. We hope you’ll walk it with us.
A Blessing for Becoming
May you have the courage to release what no longer gives life.
May silence become a trusted companion.
May every prayer soften the grip of fear and deepen your trust in Love.
May you discover that transformation is not something you achieve but a gift you receive, one faithful step at a time.
And as you continue becoming, may you find companions who remind you that you were never meant to walk this journey alone.
May the One who began this good work in you continue bringing it to completion.
With gratitude for the journey,
Jasmine Bellamy
Executive Director
Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality
Jasmine Bellamy is the Executive Director of Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality and the founder of Love 101 Ministries and The LOVING Leader. A spiritual director and contemplative preacher, she is a doctoral candidate at Fuller Seminary, where her research centers on how love forms the inner life of leadership. She is a graduate of Stillpoint’s BIPOC Spiritual Journey Program and received her Certificate in Spiritual Direction through Liberated Together. Through her work, Jasmine integrates contemplative practice, spiritual formation, and leadership development to support individuals and communities in living and leading from love as a daily practice.