One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 46:10: Be still and know that I am God. Recently my spiritual director shared the Hebrew translation of this scripture given by a theologian speaking at her Community meeting: “You have been holding onto something for far too long. Let it fall.” In our binary way of thinking, one might ask, “Which is it … Be still … or You have been holding …?” The theologian asked … “What if it is both?”
You have been holding onto something for far too long
Be still
Let it fall
Know that I am God
Letting things fall has become a spiritual practice for me in this season of downsizing from our home of 24 years. It is a season of “letting fall” more than half of our furniture. Some family heirlooms are happily falling into the homes of nieces and great-nieces. Other furniture is being joyfully received by Crowded Closet, a nonprofit thrift store that supports international relief and service organizations.
Some “fallen” things aren’t so easily given up … our dining room table, for one, where countless shared meals have taken place. Sitting at this table recently with our younger son, we found ourselves reminiscing about favorite meals and times spent with family and friends. Do we need the actual table to carry these memories in our hearts? I don’t think so. Can new memories be made sitting at a smaller table that will fit in our new condo? I’m counting on it!
I’m surprised at how freeing the practice of “letting it fall” has become. Our large storage room is now empty of the many “things” it once held … things that I forgot were there because I never looked at them. It’s freeing to be moving into a condo that has so little storage that we will take only things that will be used.
“Letting it fall” is a spiritual practice that invites so much more than letting “things” fall. What are other “somethings” that I have been holding onto for far too long? How will I know what those somethings are? How might my spirituality be freed to become deeper in letting those “somethings” fall? How might this practice help me become more the person I have been created to be? Perhaps, by being still … and in being still, to be graced with a knowing that God is God.
You have been holding onto something for far too long
Be still
Let it fall
Know that I am God.
—Dianne Brenneman
image by Andi Lewis