Letting Go

As important as it is to welcome the new year, it is even more important to say goodbye to the old one.  Carrying too much with us will prove to be too much of a burden.  A book entitled "The White Stone" with the subtitle, "The Art of Letting Go," by Esther de Waal came my way a few years ago and a few days ago I found myself pulling it off the shelf for the important words she had to say about moving from what is past into what is ahead.  Life is full of those times of transition when we stand at a threshold moment.  

The most profound moment of letting go surely comes as we lose a loved one.  Whenever we experience the death of a spouse, or a child, or a parent or someone loved deeply, we find ourselves in an immobilizing void.  A part of us wants to stay, to cling to the things and the memories of the past while another part of us is pulling us into whatever it is ahead.  The past is never where we can live.  Ahead is where we are being given to live.  It is always hard to let go even when our head tells us letting go is choosing to live.  Such is the kind of moment afforded to us as we stand now at the edge of an ending.  While the Apostle Paul wrote about Christ making us into new creations, it is not something once done and over.  

Every day we are given the opportunity to gather all our life experiences and decide how we are going to let those things be used by God to guide us into the future He is unfolding before us.  It is appropriate; therefore, to think of ourselves being made new every day.  Every day is a moment of letting go of yesterday so we can step into the day unfolding.  Every day is a moment for letting go and so it will be until we finally let go and take hold of the hand of the Christ who is preparing us each day for the Home He is preparing for us in the heavenly place.