An Invitation to Let Go

Fall reminds us that rhythms of “letting go” are a natural part of life.

At the tail end of August, I always resist the idea that summer is coming to a close. The mornings start to feel a little crisper, shadows get a bit longer and I get irritated that in an instant Pumpkin Spice is everywhere. In defiance, I still where my t-shirt and sunglasses willing the sun to come out. “I’m not ready for summer to end!", I think to myself.

I probably wouldn’t resist fall so much if it weren’t for the nine months of oppressive grey clouds and rain that always follow. The urge to move somewhere warm has only just subsided following our abbreviated (and sometimes smokey) summer. Now we’re going right back into the cold and wet?

Regardless if you begrudgingly accept the changing of seasons, or fully embrace it with glee, the changing of the leaves always marks a time of unique reflection. Autumn has a way of stirring something deeper in me as it seems to resonate with my own spiritual seasons of life.

The “autumn” of the soul is when abilities recede, perceived growth stunts, resources are pulled back, and once nourishing elements can fall away. There’s a vulnerability in it all. Just as a tree loses its foliage, we are laid bare in our own autumn seasons. It feels cold, exposed, and we long for the warm rays of spring long past.

Perhaps this fall hit differently for me because I had freshly transitioned out of a long-time role pastoring at a church here in Seattle. The implications touched literally every area of my life. After nearly a decade of pastoring, shepherding and doing life together, it was time to release. I knew it was time but that didn’t make the letting-go any easier. I was being invited to let go.

It was here that the Lord reminded me that even good things in the wrong season can be wrong things. I knew that this new chapter in my life was requiring an open-handedness to whatever The Holy Spirit wanted to fall away.

While the invitation to release is typically met by resistance, there’s beauty in the rhythm of letting go. It’s this truth that King Solomon articulates in Ecclesiastes 3:

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Though we may resist, these seasons bring their own beauty. Just as the crisp fall air welcomes warm sweaters and toasty mugs of hot beverages, and cold snaps bring an appreciation for warm fires and blankets on the couch, the same is true in our spiritual lives. There is rest when schedules are simplified. There is a recentering when titles fall away. And we are reminded that the old must pass away to make room for the new growth that will soon push through the frosty ground and bud on barren branches.

The natural release of “what was” makes space for what’s next. The invitation inherent in this season resonates in creation all around us:

Where in your life do you sense the invitation to release or let go?

There is a season for everything. As you consider those places that you are being invited to let go, remember that it is making space for new growth.