“Letting Go”
SCRIPTURE
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:12-14
DEVOTIONAL
Two monks were walking down a country road after a rainstorm had passed. They approached a crossroad where the rain had left a large puddle where the two roads met. They also noticed a woman standing on the nearside of the puddle in front of them, staring at the unpassable intersection. She was dressed in a beautiful silk wrap that draped to her ankles. She did not know how she would pass.
As the two monks came closer, the older monk asked her, “Would you like me to help you cross the water?” She gently nodded. To the younger monk’s surprise, the older monk picked the woman up and started to carry her across, doing all he could not to splash the beautiful fabric. The younger monk followed slowly behind so as to not stir the water. From that short distance, the younger monk noticed the woman becoming agitated. “Watch my dress!” she told the older man. “It’s starting to wrinkle.” She fidgeted in discomfort, making it harder for the older man to hold her. When they finally reached the other side of the puddle, the older, exhausted monk carefully put her down. Not a drop of muddy water found its way onto the silk.
“That was terrible!” the woman snapped as she jerked from the monk’s arms. “My dress is wrinkled now! How dare you cause such trouble!” The older monk bowed to honor her and then turned to continue his journey, as the younger monk eventually caught up to him.
As the two walked quietly along the path and their feet and robes started to dry, the younger monk thought of his elder’s generosity and grew more and more frustrated at the woman’s response. “How dare she!” he thought to himself. “What injustice! What entitlement!” he stewed. Finally, after several miles, the younger monk finally spoke his disdain, “I can’t believe that woman scolded you after your kindness and effort to help. She said she wanted help, and this is how she repays you?!”
The elder monk softly smiled and said to the younger monk, “I put that woman down at the edge of the water. Why are you still carrying her?”
- What are you holding on to that is weighing you down? How can you put that down?
- Henri Nouwen says that “We chose the pain. We hold on to our ways because we don’t know what it would mean to let them go.” What would it mean to let old resentments, regrets, fear and judgments go?
“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” —Anne Lamott
PRAYER
Release us to release. Forgive us to forgive. Hold us closer so that we might find the strength to let go. Amen
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.