Summary: I often wondered how Sinclair reconciled his Catholic upbringing with his position as an important Minbari religious figure. Here are his thoughts just before entering the chrysalis.
Disclaimers: The usual.
He stood silently in the quarters he had claimed for himself on Babylon 4. He held the triluminary in his hand as he began to prepare himself for the change that was to come. A Minbari not born Minbari, they had called him.
He had been educated by the Jesuits, and he had wanted to become a priest. That ended when the war broke out and he joined Earthforce instead. 'I guess I'll get my chance to become a priest now, just not in the way I had imagined,' he thought.
A verse from the first chapter of Genesis came to his mind. God created man in His own image. By changing his human form into Minbari, would he be desecrating the image of God?
The discovery of alien life had caused theologians to reevaluate what the creation meant. He recalled what one of the Jesuits had said to him many years ago when he asked if aliens were created in God's image, too. "Jeffrey, the Bible teaches us that God is love. So, any species with the capacity to love is created in the image of God. Human, Centauri, Narn, Drazi, even the Pak'ma'ra. We all look different, but inside, we're the same."
New names mark times of transition and renewal. Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul. Jeffrey David Sinclair was to become Valen. A new name, a new birth. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The Minbari believe in reincarnation - continual rebirth. He wasn't so sure. He still wanted to go to Heaven, to see the face of his God. He knew from reading history that Valen lived to an old age. He hoped that at the end of his new life, he would be greeted with the words Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
The number three was sacred to the Minbari. Three castes - worker, warrior, religious. Three members of each caste on the Grey Council. Three sides to the triluminary. The transformation takes three weeks. He will be flanked by two Vorlons when he delivers the space station, making three messengers.
As he stepped into the chrysalis, he remembered that the number three is sacred to him as well. He made the sign of the cross and spoke aloud the last words he would utter in human form.
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."