Cremaster

Sue Monk Kidd continues to explore the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly [When the Heart Waits] by discussing the development of its chrysalis. It begins with a little "protuberance" called a cremaster. The cremaster is the connection point. Kidd writes: My mind whirled to the poetry of T.S. Eliot, who wrote about a still point, a spiritual place where there's no going forward or going backward. A point within us where we're fastened, and around which everything turns. "Except for the point, the still point, there would be no dance." he wrote. The still point is our cremaster. Without it, there's no dance of tranformation. It's the place where all cocoon making starts. We need to find the point in our soul where we go neither forward nor backward but are fastened in our waiting. ... What is this still point? It represents the Center, the quiet core where God's Spirit dwells in us. "Do you not know that ... God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16)

I believe this spiritual cremaster ... our Christ connection ... can take shape in many ways. For some it is a moment of belief; a spiritual experience; a relationship of acceptance/amazing grace; the taste and sensation of eucharist; or a deep sense of the Holy.

I wonder about the spiritual cremaster of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, who shouted his prayer to Jesus outside the Jericho gate. His prayer has anchored millions as they have discovered how the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. (Romans 8: 26b)
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Amen.