LETTING GO
We are born with closed hands and spend the first many years learning to open them, learning to reach for and receive the gifts of life. Over time we learn to stash away in pockets and secret drawers our found treasures - in order to make it possible for us to reach out for new ones.
Over the course of decades this reaching and stashing can become habitual, feeding the belief that there’s “always more” to desire and acquire. It can also become overwhelming when what is held is simply too big and burdensome to carry.
This month’s theme of “letting go” encourages conscious attention to those objects, experiences, identities, relationships, values, hopes or regrets that we have had to let go of, as well as those that we might recognize as needing to be released.
The practice of letting go gracefully is recognized as essential to spiritual and psychological health. Most religious traditions stress the need to let go of ego-driven habits of thought and behavior that might otherwise remain clenched in the fist of the heart or mind.
Along those lines, every religious tradition provides stories, rituals and directives to help people access the courage needed to “let go”. Why? Because we’ve spent so much time learning to grasp, that letting go can feel quite challenging!
Many Unitarian Universalists engage with this issue symbolically through the Sunday ritual of Joys & Sorrows and, practically, through things like Covenant Groups and Voluntary Simplicity initiatives. Most regularly examine their own beliefs, prejudices and habits, in order to determine what next to let go of “in the name of love, peace, justice, freedom and reason.”
What are you letting go of, and what helps you do so?
We are born with closed hands and spend the first many years learning to open them, learning to reach for and receive the gifts of life. Over time we learn to stash away in pockets and secret drawers our found treasures - in order to make it possible for us to reach out for new ones.
Over the course of decades this reaching and stashing can become habitual, feeding the belief that there’s “always more” to desire and acquire. It can also become overwhelming when what is held is simply too big and burdensome to carry.
This month’s theme of “letting go” encourages conscious attention to those objects, experiences, identities, relationships, values, hopes or regrets that we have had to let go of, as well as those that we might recognize as needing to be released.
The practice of letting go gracefully is recognized as essential to spiritual and psychological health. Most religious traditions stress the need to let go of ego-driven habits of thought and behavior that might otherwise remain clenched in the fist of the heart or mind.
Along those lines, every religious tradition provides stories, rituals and directives to help people access the courage needed to “let go”. Why? Because we’ve spent so much time learning to grasp, that letting go can feel quite challenging!
Many Unitarian Universalists engage with this issue symbolically through the Sunday ritual of Joys & Sorrows and, practically, through things like Covenant Groups and Voluntary Simplicity initiatives. Most regularly examine their own beliefs, prejudices and habits, in order to determine what next to let go of “in the name of love, peace, justice, freedom and reason.”
What are you letting go of, and what helps you do so?