Letting Go

It may sound awful, but there has been many a time that I have seen a small child do something (usually my own child) and I have thought "that is just what a (insert animal I am thinking of here) would do!". Another one of those moments happened this morning.

Philip was playing with his Discovery Toys Hammer Away and stuck his hand in the hole to pull the ball out instead of letting it roll all of the way to the bottom. Now when his hand is stretched out, he has no problem putting his hand in and out of that hole. Once his hand is in a fist, it is going to be stuck tight until he stretches it out again, yet to pull the ball back through the hole with his hand, the hand will have to remain in a fist. See the dilemma? He either holds the ball and stays stuck, or he decides to let the ball go and can get free.

Raccoons are much the same way (My experience with raccoons extends from growing up in Tahlequah, OK where coon hunting is huge - ever read "Where the Red Fern Grows"?). They will reach through a thin hole to grab something shiny in the bottom. Then they will hold tight and so not be able to pull their fist back through the top. A person can then get them as they will usually not let go. I knew several people who went hunting with their dads and they really did this. I was so surprised to hear that it really does work, after all, wouldn't the raccoon let go sooner so that he can get away?

Except the beauty of the human being is that we have a complex mind that enables us to choose to let go. Sure we can hold onto the baggage or what we really want that is just right there in our reach. But if the stuff starts to weigh us down, we can also choose to free ourselves by letting go.

Philip was coaxed to let go of the ball and he was free. Now, as I go through all of the stuff we have hoarded in our house (especially after the extravaganza on Monday), I too realize that as this stuff is weighing us down, I too need to let go. This is what Jesus was talking about when he asked the rich man to leave all of his belongings and follow Him.

It is amazing that just when I start to think "Boy it would be nice if we had just one more room, or one more bookshelf, or one more plastic bin" I then quickly discover that no, what we really need is to get rid of more stuff. That is my goal for the rest of this week - to get rid of even more, so that we may be free!