Letting Go
October 19, 2017
After watching hours of television recording the tragedies in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, I am thinking about many layers of saying “good-bye” and “releasing” things and people.
All of us who are at a distance and know no one in any of these four places, still experience a sense of loss. We see buildings destroyed, cars floating in the water, houses without roofs, trees piled up like toothpicks and power lines strung across roads in dangerous patterns. We see dazed concert goers running across roads and screaming in pain and confusion.
Those of us who have relatives or friends caught in these disasters, add another layer of loss since we bear the breaking of relationships, the pain of suffering, and the feeling of helplessness. We are overwhelmed with sadness.
While not nearly so dramatic, we all experience loss and must say “good-bye” when colleagues leave their positions, when programs are phased out and when budgets are trimmed. Many of these losses are not our wish nor our decision yet we must change our patterns of work and vocation. We must let some things go and we must release patterns that we have developed.
Some of our clients struggle to release difficult behaviors and adopt new attitudes. That is hard work. Some of our patients are relieved that they can let go of guilt, pain and hurt with the help of therapists, friends, medications and advocates. “Letting go” is then a time to “take on.”
All of us can look back in our lives and rehearse previous decisions and changes. I moved several times because pastors change congregations or vocational assignments. It was very hard to leave people I loved and communities that were home to me. I sometimes lacked confidence that I could take on a new job in a new community. I did not want to “let go” of relationships, rituals and familiar routines. I needed to say “good-bye” with full-throated strength—often through tears.
Now, I face new realities and new possibilities. I have entered the “retirement” age and that means another major change. I find it both important to “let go” of meaningful work and to “take on” new opportunities—most as a volunteer. I really like this freedom and am finding rewards and challenges that fill days with meaning.
“…those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 NRSV
Dorothy Nickel Friesen is a retired pastor and denominational minister who served on the Prairie View Board for nine years.