The Gospel According to Beauty and the Beast

by Mary Scifres

  This is what it looks like when communities embrace transformation. At their best, transformational communities of all types embody this Great Commandment to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. As Hillel notes: “Everything else is commentary.”[85] When communities focus on compassionate love and transformative growth, they show their truest beauty for all to see.

  A Community Love Story

  The communities of Beauty and the Beast need to discover the truth of inner beauty every bit as much as do Belle and Beast. For, this is not just the love story of a girl and a boy; this is a love story of a whole community. They are on love’s journey toward transformation together. Beast and Belle are growing, supported by the castle community; the castle community is changing, inspired by Beast and Belle. Beast’s transformation is intimately intertwined with the transformation of his community. The fate of Beast and his servants are inextricably linked each and every step of the way.

  Long before Beast is fully transformed, the castle community is already being transformed for the better as they bathe in the light of Belle and Beast’s growing love. Beast’s transformative journey of learning to love transforms his community so fully that they are firm in their loyalty and strong in their own confidence when the villagers come to attack. Without question, the castle residents gather together to defend hearth and home, even when their own master is fading back away into despair and hopelessness. The castle community’s faith has grown, and they are unshakeable in their intention to save both Beast and their castle. As they prepare to defend their beloved home and their beloved master, the light within the castle servants shimmers brightly, highlighting the unexpected beauty of their calm confidence and fierce loyalty.

  Even as they win the castle battle, the castle servants know the only real victory lies in supporting Beast’s transformation. Both Beast and his community know they are dependent on one another, connected together on this journey toward wholeness. Nowhere is this seen more poignantly than when Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts look on in disbelief and indescribable grief as Beast lies dying on the tower floor. Having successfully driven off the invading villagers and seeing Belle return to the castle, their salvation is surely at hand. But now, the master who has finally learned to love and who has regained his humanity is dying. All hope seems lost. In the 2017 film, the servants seek to comfort one another as the last petal falls, sealing their doom forever.

  They do not see Belle plead for Beast not to leave her, or hear her speak the words “I love you,” just before the last petal falls. If the love within Belle’s heart lifted the spell, transforming the servants back to their human selves, but did not bring Beast back from the dead, would the servants celebrate their freedom, or would they view it as a pyrrhic victory? Free from the spell with access to the castle’s vast wealth and the prince’s sizeable fortune, released from the obligation of taking orders from the prince who was responsible for their plight to begin with, can we imagine these servants living happily ever after? It seems inconceivable, because it’s not who they are; it’s not who they have become through the long process of growing together as a community and through helping the prince truly become human again.

  Beauty and the Beast is a community love story because no one in the castle can be happy unless all are happy. No one can be fully transformed unless all are transformed. On that tower, Belle proclaims her love for Beast and unleashes the powerful magic that will not only save and transform Beast back into the prince he has become, it will transform everyone in the castle back to their beautiful human forms as well. The castle itself is transformed from a dark and sinister place crumbling in ruin into a place of beauty and light.

  Like Jesus on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah[86], there on that tower landing, Beast has a transfiguration experience. Beast is visibly different, surrounded by light and beauty. Like Jesus, Beast’s transfiguration is seen only by his closest friend, but it is a transfiguration that affects his entire community. Maurice, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Belle, Beast, and even the prince’s faithful dog gather together as one community to celebrate the tale of true love that has grown and transformed them all.

  The story of Beauty and the Beast is a tale as old as time, not because it’s the story of two people falling in love, but because this is a story of transformation. This is a story of the life-giving transformation that changes people, communities, and even the world. For even as Belle and Beast dance toward their personal happy ending, we know this happily ever after includes everyone in their new community—a community celebrating, loving, and interacting, just as they have been doing for the last two hours as we have watched this love blossom and grow before our very eyes. Community lies at the very heart of our story, just as it lies at the very heart of every transformation in our lives and in our world.

  6.THE JOURNEY TOWARD TRANSFORMATION

  Just a little change

  Small to say the least.[87]

  Every day, we experience a little change here and there: We find ourselves an inch taller or a quarter inch shorter depending on our season of life; we notice our a baby’s first golden locket or a friend’s first gray hair; we get hired for our first job or enter into retirement; we stand transfixed before a rising sun or a setting moon; we see life stir within a blooming flower or fade within a falling leaf. We experience changes both big and small every day. Some of these changes are permanent; others are as fleeting as a shooting star. But even small changes can initiate larger opportunities for growth, and even permanent changes don’t automatically bring true transformation. When we embrace growth, new blossoms emerge, creating beauty in the gardens of our lives. By inviting life-giving change and growth into our lives, we embark on the beautiful journey of positive transformation—a journey with as much power to enrich our lives as it did for a village girl named Belle and a prince known as Beast.

  But how do we invite this life-giving change into our lives? As we see throughout the story of Beauty and the Beast, it can’t simply be the nature of the change—for while changes in one person’s life lead to transformation, the same changes in another’s life do not. Are there clues that explain how and why some people experience amazing transformation, while others do not? To answer these questions, it will be instructive to explore both the conditions that make journeys toward transformation possible and the tools that aid our individual and communal journeys.

  The Ground of Transformation

  Life has Lessons to Teach

  Life has lessons to teach us. Love and suffering seem to be the two great paths toward transformation—suffering grabs our attention, and love lights the way home. While we would prefer the path of love, some lessons arrive most clearly along the path of suffering. If we flee from the pain of these lessons or if we hunker down and ride out the storm without being transformed through the process, the lessons inevitably come around again—usually more insistent and harder to ignore.

  Moments of brokenness can create fertile soil for the seeds of transformation to begin growing in our lives. Life’s misfortunes can be good teachers if we are willing to pay attention. We may be stuck in a joyless life, working a j-o-b that fuels neither our souls nor the dreams we have long-since buried. We may be in a loveless relationship, too accustomed to going through the motions to know that we can reach for more. We may not like where we are stuck, but when misfortune strikes (an accident, an illness, the death of a loved one, or loss of a job) and our situation becomes intolerable, we often open ourselves to real transformation. Trials offer opportunities for learning, for reclaiming hope, for exploring new possibilities, for re-inventing ourselves, and even for creating life out of the ashes of defeat and death.

  The prologue of Beauty and the Beast takes place in a castle filled with servants and the sort of privilege that offers our young prince everything he needs to grow into his princely role—everything except the conditions that make transformation possible. Perhaps the young prince is spoiled and over-ind
ulged by doting nannies and loving parents. Perhaps both parents and nannies neglect to teach the young prince the obligations of princely leadership and virtue. The 2017 film depicts the prince suffering at the hands of a cruel father after the untimely death of his mother. This suffering might have led to the transformation of his heart, but instead, it simply hardened it. It’s important to note that while love and suffering are necessary conditions for transformation to occur, they are not sufficient in themselves to bring such transformation to fruition.

  Whatever the back-story of Beauty and the Beast may be, personal misfortune is the impetus for our prince’s journey toward life-giving transformation. Only after the enchantress turns him into a hideous beast is he willing to receive critiques of his behavior and begin making the changes necessary for genuine transformation to occur. His vacuous noble friendships, his decadent self-centered life, and his cruel attitude toward the world have entrapped him in a beastly life, and it is only when his outer form is transformed to reflect the beastly life within that he experiences enough pain to face his need for transformation. Understanding Beast’s journey, in the midst of our own misfortunes, can help us embrace similar journeys of our own.

  Love and Misfortune Contain Seeds of Transformation

  That Beast’s journey toward transformation begins with misfortune is beyond doubt. Getting transformed into a hideous beast is not on anyone’s bucket list. But what is not as obvious is that the enchantress plants seeds of Beast’s transformation within her spell. She plants the seed that love must grow in order for transformation to occur. For it is only through the prince’s learning to love and earning another’s love that the spell can be broken. Just as a seed lies sleeping in earthen darkness awaiting the sun’s light to awaken it, so too the enchantress’ seeds lie sleeping in Beast, awaiting Belle’s light to bring them to flower. Misfortune, depicted in our story as the beautiful enchantress, may plant the seeds of transformation within us, but nurturing their growth is up to us.

  Whatever seeds of transformation have been planted, very little growth or life-giving change seems evident when we first meet Beast in our story. For almost a decade, Beast has lived with the spell, seemingly with little or no change in his life or behavior. His temper, despairing attitude, and lack of kindness toward strangers remain unchanged. Beast is cruel to Maurice and later to Belle when they arrive unexpectedly at the castle. Even Beast’s loving servants seem incapable of shining enough light to awaken the seed buried deep within. But they are capable of helping Belle shine her own light and of making sure she helps thaw the frozen earth in Beast’s heart where seeds of transformation have already been planted.

  As with misfortune, love may plant the seeds of transformation within us, but nurturing their growth is up to us. If misfortune is like a tsunami warning, love is like the soft glow of Lumiere’s candelabra drawing Belle up the castle steps. Ready to the light the way, love calls always. We can choose whether to follow the glow of this light or to remain in the shadows. Though he has known love, Beast has chosen the shadows of self-absorption over the light of love. In the 2017 film, Mrs. Potts tells Belle about a loving mother who drew the young prince to her bedside as she lay dying, only to have the prince’s father take him from her side. Her love has nurtured the soil in the boy’s heart, planting seeds of hope, promise, and transformation deep within. But the king’s cruelty leads the boy to wall off his heart to protect himself from further pain. After his mother’s death, the young prince seals his heart from the powerful light of love—the very light that could have reached the seeds of transformation planted by his mother. Yet, once planted in our souls, love can never truly die. Even hidden in the shadows, love waits expectantly for us to break down our walls of fear and doubt and receive the healing kiss of its warmth and light. The seeds of transformation that love has planted in our hearts may lie dormant for decades, but they patiently await the moment when another’s loving light will awaken them from slumber.

  Planted by the One who is the Source of Love and Love itself, these seeds of transformation are always with us, always available, always prepared to gift us with the power and grace to grow. The gift of love, so essential on the journey toward transformation, has been with Beast from his very first breath. And so it is with each of us, created by Love from the beginning of time. The seeds of transformation are present, ready to grow, even as Beast dwells on the fading petals of a dying rose. But there are secrets to the universe that Beast does not know, including the secret gift of growth—for we are created not for death, but for growth; and we do not travel the journey toward life-giving transformation alone or unaided.

  The Universe Pulls Us Forward

  The universe pulls us forward, yearning for our transformation. Religious traditions speak of this reality in different ways. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jainists speak of this force as Dharma; Taoists call it the Tao; and Christians speak it as the work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the most compelling description comes from Judaism. The Talmud speaks of a heavenly medium (or mazal) that imparts spiritual influence to all earthly things: “Every single blade of grass has a corresponding mazal in the sky which hits it and tells it to grow.”[88] The enchantress’ spell hits the prince with blunt-force trauma. Perhaps she is the mazal telling Beast to grow in love, while promising transformation in the wake of love’s bloom. The Talmud’s forceful language portrays the dramatic nature of transformation more honestly than its paraphrase in popular culture: “Every blade of grass has an angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow.’” The enchantress’ spell is no gentle whisper; this misfortune is a dramatic call to action. Perhaps Belle is yet another mazal bringing the power of transformative love—this time with that gentle whisper of kindness accompanied by the bold strength of stubbornness and wit. Love and misfortune are both powerful, but the mazal in love is gentle, while the mazal in misfortune can be brutal. Growth is a beautiful thing, but it can also be a full contact sport.

  Just as we must choose between embracing the possibilities of life’s trials and tribulations, or stirring the dregs of our suffering, so too we must choose between accepting a mazal’s gifts, or closing ourselves off from its promised growth. Even after the traumatic events that transform the prince into a monster, Beast resists the mazal’s invitation to love. Buried deep within the soil of Beast’s anger and resentment, the seeds lie dormant until Belle and her father enter Beast’s life. Perhaps the seeds of friendship Belle plants are so quick to grow because they meet the seeds of transformation already lying within, simply awaiting Belle’s light of love to stir them from sleep. Perhaps the castle community has prepared the soil of Beast’s life with their self-giving love, moving the old seeds around a bit, and perhaps even planting a few seeds of their own.

  Tools of Transformation

  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.[89] These words of Lao Tzu are as true for the journey toward transformation as they are for any other journey in life. Transformation is a process, and may prove to be long and drawn out, but it begins with a single step. The path is not always clear, and the forward motion is seldom straightforward or simple. When we seek life-giving transformation, we are invited onto a journey with many twists and turns. We may embark on this journey from many different starting points, but start we must if we are to embrace change and the opportunities it presents for our lives. For our journeys toward transformation to be successful, a few tools will help us along the way.

  Tool 1: Choice

  The first tool to aid our journeys toward transformation is choice—a tool so obvious it is often overlooked. As every bereavement counselor knows, grief is a process but recovery is a choice. Not everyone experiencing grief chooses to move from anger to acceptance. In a similar way, not everyone who experiences love or suffering and feels the mazal’s pull will choose to embark on the journey toward transformation. Make no mistake, we are always on a journey of one kind or another; it is the choices we make that determine which type of journe
y we will travel. Will we move forward or backward? Will we move sideways or remain stuck? Will we climb the next hill or try to find a way around? The way forward leads to life; the way backward leads to death. Always, the universe pulls us toward transformation, urging us to choose life.

  When Beast sees this young woman sacrifice herself to save her father, a glimmer of surprise flits across his face. Just a little change begins to form in this brief encounter with a young woman who loves her father selflessly and sacrificially. The light calls to the darkness, stirring the seeds lying within. But the light can only call—we must choose to answer the call and let the light in. When we choose to let the light in, the seeds of transformation open and sprout. And in this magical movement within the heart and soul, other dormant seeds of transformation are stirred from sleep. These seeds seem to bloom out of nowhere, much like the poppies that bloomed unexpectedly over the battlefield graves in Belgium, France, and Gallipoli during World War I.[90] Just a little change has occurred in what will eventually become a seismic transformation for both Beast and the entire castle community.