Transformation through Interruption and Flight

William James, the famous American philosopher of religion, used the metaphor of perching and flight to describe how human consciousness moves along the path of transformation. Like birds following a stream, we tend to fly, perch, then fly again in a slightly different direction, zig-zagging our way toward whatever destination we reach.

The moments of perching are when we gather ourselves, take a look around and determine what direction we’ll take next. Perching gives us some measure of repose and an opportunity for reflection and rest.

But it is during flight that interesting things occur. The moment birds leave their perch, they are aware that all is not exactly as they thought it might be: the wind is slightly stronger or coming from a different direction than it had been; that tree ahead, which at first appeared to be a good perching place, now appears to be the stalking place of a falcon; the movement and calls of other birds inform them that trouble is on the way or that the weather is about to change.

It is during flight—especially during those parts of flight that bring us in close proximity with others—that our expectations and our assumptions are interrupted and challenged. The interruptions that we experience cause us to change the course of our flight sometimes and give us something to think about and to integrate into our changed selves when next we perch.

While perching, we reflect on the information and intuitions we gained while flying, and then, with an altered perspective, we take to the air again. If we stay on the perch too long, we are less likely to gain the new experiences we need in order to transform ourselves or one another or the world.

Dynamic religious community provides us a place for intentional interruption. In such a place, covenant becomes the container for a free and open discourse and discernment that acts as an interruption from our individual perchings. Discourse and discernment in a free, covenantal religious community are what gives it its power and are the ways in which it moves ahead.

While religious community can also be a place to perch from time to time, it loses its purpose when it fails to take flight. It is only when we fly that we begin to experience the promise of transformation, of moving from the old self to the new, from old attitudes and actions to new ways of thinking and acting in the world.

Far too often in religious community, we tend to work toward perching and nesting as our ultimate goal, laboring under the delusion that once we get something perfectly settled and “right,” then we shall not have to move from our place ever again. But life has a tendency to make us fly, whether we want to or not. Better to take flight of our own volition than to be dumped to the ground when the bottom falls out of our rotting nests.

When we are able to perch with an eye toward where we will fly next, we are following the path of discernment that will transform each and every one of us in deep and often unexpected ways.