April 2011
Dear Friends,
This year’s Lenten theme has been that “Lent is a time for letting go.” Sometimes, it just feels like God is talking right to you—and when this Lenten theme was introduced to me, I almost laughed out loud because I was certain that God was nudging and coaxing me to relinquish the areas of control that I have been frantically trying to maintain.
Since the introduction of our theme, God has slowly been softening my heart to witness the areas of my life where letting go is necessary—I have to let go of the idea that I can be all places at all times. I have to let go of the idea that I can be all things to all people. I have to let go of the idea that I can understand and/or heal everything. Really, I have to let go of the idea that I can be anywhere near as effective at those things as God.
God is the one who is at all places at all times. God is the one who can be all things for all people. God is the one who can understand and heal all things. God is the one who does all those things so that I can just be me—the best me I can be—formed by the loving hands of the One who created all things. God is the all in all—so I can let go of the absurd notion that I should be too.
But for as omnipresent as God is—God is also capable and willing to let go. The high school class recently had a great discussion about God’s influence in the world and where it can and can’t be seen. We talked about letting go—and one astute teenager pointed out that our free will was out of God’s willingness to let go of power. That student was absolutely right.
We are free to choose to love, to hate, to grasp, to release, to build, to tear down, to comfort, to bully… we are free to choose all these things because God first chooses to love and let go. We are free to choose to let go of control because God shows us the ultimate example of letting go, by offering His only Son to the world. God lets go of control so that we can choose how we want to live. We can choose to be enslaved by power, guilt, and inadequacy, or we can choose to give control back to God and live in the freedom and peace that has already been secured for us.
And thus, we arrive back at our Lenten theme. Lent is a time for letting go… and it’s also a time for giving all that I let go back to God. I pray that this Lenten journey has been a fruitful one for you… one that allows you to examine your relationship with God and deepen it. As we look towards the promise of the resurrection, I pray that your faith in God’s love and God’s control will be renewed and resurrected.
Blessings,
Pastor Danielle