Here’s a
helpful piece excerpted from a long piece by Howard Thurman about what it means
to “let go.” It was posted on the Inward/Outward blog.
Let Go of Everything
But God
I must let
go.
For so long I have held to the habit of holding on.
Even my muscles
Are tense; deeply fearful are they
Of relaxing lest they fall away from their place.
I cling clutchingly to my friends
Lest I lose them.
I live under the shadow of being supplanted by another.
I cling to my money, not so much
By a wise economy and a thoughtful spending
But by a sense of possession that makes me depend upon it for strength.
I must let go—
For so long I have held to the habit of holding on.
Even my muscles
Are tense; deeply fearful are they
Of relaxing lest they fall away from their place.
I cling clutchingly to my friends
Lest I lose them.
I live under the shadow of being supplanted by another.
I cling to my money, not so much
By a wise economy and a thoughtful spending
But by a sense of possession that makes me depend upon it for strength.
I must let go—
I must let
go of everything but God.
But God—may
it not be
That God is
in all the things to which I cling?
That may be
the hidden reason for my clinging.
It is all
very puzzling indeed. When I say
"I
must let go of everything but God"
What is my
meaning?
I must
relax my hold on everything that dulls my sense of Him,
That comes
between me and the inner awareness of His Presence
Pervading
my life and glorifying
All the
common ways with wonderful wonder.
"Teach
me, O God, how to free myself of dearest possessions,
So that in
my trust I shall find restored to me
All I need
to walk in Thy path and to fulfill Thy will.
Let me know
Thee for myself that I may not be satisfied
With aught
that is less."
~ excerpted
from a longer piece by Howard Thurman (1899-1981) in Deep is the Hunger. Posted
on the inward/outward blog. To see the whole piece, click here: http://www.inwardoutward.org/2007/04/27/let-go-everything-god
