Nature in the Northern Hemisphere this time of year shows us how to let go. I live in Alaska, where long timers say that fall is the last weekend of September. The leaves that show us the loveliness of letting go are all underfoot by October. By November, the sun refuses to rise until 9:30 am., and by the winter solstice we get only five hours of daylight. Living this far north provides daily reminders of the power of nature and the futility of fighting it.
Jesus also addresses letting go, as recorded by all the Gospel writers. Matthew 16:25 quotes him as saying: “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
The John version (12:25) adds a verse about a grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying so that it can bear much fruit, another lesson from nature. We let something go so that something else can be born. We unclench our fists so that there’s room in our open hands.
This message is excerpted from “Letting go” by Lisa A. Smith in the September/October 2021 Gather magazine.
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