Letting Go

It’s the time of year here in New England when the spectacular colors of fall slowly give way to the more subdued palette of winter. The time when giant piles of discarded leaves are raked up and stuffed into garbage bags.  And the time of year when once again I wonder why that one tree in my yard just won’t let go of its leaves. This tree stubbornly holds onto just enough leaves to make us have to rake again in December. I just want to yell at it…. let go enough already…what are you holding on for you… just get on with it! (For the record, I don’t actually talk to my tree as I don’t want to be the neighborhood nut… but it is tempting!) 

I think it is fair to say though, that our lives can be like that tree and its stubborn leaves. We can’t seem to let go of the old even though we know it’s time. The trees are releasing what they don’t need anymore so they can hunker down for winter, have a little rest, and get ready for their next spectacular show. A new spring waits ahead of them, full of tiny buds, leafy sprouts and a bounty of green growth. 

But to get there, they need to let go of what was to make room for what is. 

It can be the same for us, we hold on when it’s simply time to let go. We keep a tight grip on things like disappointment, resentment, failure, or loss, and miss out on the space to rest and reboot for what’s next. If we instead release the past it makes room for something beautiful to grow in its place. 

There is always a new beginning to be had. 

The truth is that the new beginning may be an easy, breezy year, or it may not. It may involve an unfortunate squirrel family taking up residence that makes you crazy, or it might be quiet and a bit empty. It could be full of sunny days and just enough rain, or a hurricane could rip through. That’s the catch, we don’t know. But what I do know is that there is work to be done to prepare for whatever it is. Spectacular growth waits for us in all of it, but it’s hard to embrace with baggage in the way. 

Let the old be swept-up, put in garbage bags and lugged away. 

Is there something you need to let go of to make room for some time to rest and get ready for what is next?  Are you holding onto something that is stopping you from the growth that wants to make its way into your life? As we prepare for the holiday season ahead, my hope is that we can all let go of the things in our lives that are lingering on way beyond their expiration date. And, that as we let go of these things, we can lean into the holidays unencumbered, with bright expectations to experience God’s bold love in everything we do.   

A little letting go creates space for a world of new possibilities. 

Let’s together prepare for the holidays and the new year coming by giving ourselves the gift of release and the chance to move onward with less of the old stuff hanging on.