The word ‘transformation’ literally means ‘across forms’. It has a sense of something over or beyond, or on the other side of existing forms. To walk the Via Transformativa is to struggle to find new forms to hold our creativity, new ways to touch the heart. It is the challenge that faces artists of all kinds; it is the greatest single task facing politicians; it is the vocation of all who lead and enable worship for others; and the imperative for all people of goodwill who want to care in practical, enabling, respectful ways. The struggle for transformation is hard work, as known by anyone who has ever tried to write a poem, learn to play a musical instrument, or master a foreign language. It requires discipline, imagination, endurance, and self-sacrifice. It demands courage, the capacity to receive criticism and learn from one’s mistakes, and the ability to live with failure. And of all the struggles for transformation in life, perhaps the most demanding is parenthood. After creativity, after birth, comes parenting. To nurture and cherish; to allow dependence and to encourage independence; to learn when to hold on and when to let go; to accept without condition, and yet to set parameters and guidelines; and to go on doing it for the rest of your life-these are the transformative tasks of parenthood, and they require all the qualities above, and more.