Letting Go Pt. 1

I like to know where I'm going to end up before I start.

Before I start anything.

If I don't know what's supposed to happen it's like stepping into a black abyss. Not very appealing to the part of me that desperately desires the future to be put in a nice, tidy order. Reality is much more messy than this part of ourselves would like it to be. But we can pretend this is not so, can't we? We can live our lives in a world of 'make believe,' acting as if we have almost limitless control over our circumstances and surroundings.

It's true that most of us live in a cultural and social context when many of our whims can be satisfied with little more than some numbers on a plastic card. My whims usually involve delicious candy, truth be told. But I digress. We might give lip service to the uncertainty of the future but we live as though we know exactly what's going to happen. And you know what? We're likely very right. Situations and circumstances can change, without a doubt, and yet if we live as though the story of our lives has already been told, we will likely find ourselves playing the part we feel destined to play, even when a much greater role is awaiting us.

Could it be that our lives have infinitely more potential than we're aware of? Perhaps not. After all, infinite is a lot. But what if it were so? How would we find out?

We have to be willing to let everything go and discover what remains.

I'm reminded of the biblical story of Jesus and the wealthy ruler, where he asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life and after some dialogue the ruler is told to sell all his possessions, give to the poor and then follow Jesus. A tall order!

I've heard it said that this passage is implying that we must only be willing to let go of all our possessions rather than a command for us to literally get rid of them. I would tend to agree with that, except I've never heard anyone, to my memory, speak of how we become willing and what that really looks like.

How do we know we're willing? Because we feel like we are? This kind of 'letting go' is not something to simply be practiced when we feel inspired towards generosity or are asked for what we do not wish to give. No, this kind of 'letting go' is a position, a particular relationship to life and our experience.

Of course, we really could actually sell everything we own but that doesn't mean we'll be any less attached to it! Not only that, it is not simply our material goods that constitute our 'possessions.' No, we try to possess many things, from relationships to opinions and perspectives to our self-image, etc. Anything we're holding onto, internally, is something we're attempting to possess.

These possessions aren't all bad things and I don't believe Jesus was implying otherwise, that all possessions are negative or harmful. In this context, it's not really about the things themselves but more about our relationship to them. We may be very generous with our money and belongings, we may have a lot of wonderful relationships in life, our opinions and perspectives may be quite reflective of truth, and our self-image might be quite healthy and grounded. Surely we should not give up these wonderful 'possessions' that seem so wholesome and good?

Yes, we must. But not because they are bad.

When we truly let go of all our possessions - everything - we discover a part of ourselves that needs nothing else to be complete and whole. It is only in becoming rooted in this deepest dimension of ourselves that we will be truly free to follow the path that Jesus walked and invited others to join him on, the path of selfless love. We must learn to let go of everything so that we will be free enough to consciously participate in creating the future, in bringing heaven to earth.

To be continued...