My niece (5) and nephew (12) love Indiana
Jones, oddly enough. My niece always
refers to it as “the man in the hat movie” and indeed loves watching it in the
Indy hat I purchased @ Disney land several years ago. The 4th movie is the one they watch the most,
Aunt Lauri’s edited edition of course.
Come
with me now to a scene in the movie. Indy and Miriam fall into a dry patch of
sand and they start to sink. Shia Labeouf’s character, whose name is Mud, runs
and finds a huge snake to give the sinking couple in order to save them. Miriam is pulled to safety, and not knowing
Indy is greatly afraid of snakes, Mud throws him the reptile in order to save
him. However, before Indy will grab the snake, he asks Mud to call it a rope,
questioning his reasoning Mud finally says, “Grab the rope!” Indy must hold onto the snake to be safe.
Holding on makes sense, if Indy had let go he would have sunk and died. In some
situations holding on can help, save, and rescue.
Sometimes, however, as much as it hurts
letting go is the healthier choice. If you are like me, you have taken whatever
the situation or person or thing to Jesus and said, “here take it please…I
can’t fight this battle anymore.” Then
for some reason walk back to the cross and tell Jesus, “I do not like what
you’re doing with this, so I’m going to take it back.” I then later go to Jesus
give my situations to Him, then take it back again..It becomes a vicious
cycle.
Anakin:
I can't do it, Mom. I just can't do it.
Shmi
Skywalker: Ani...
Anakin:
Will I ever see you again?
Shmi
Skywalker: What does your heart tell you?
Anakin:
I hope so. Yes... I guess.
Shmi
Skywalker: Then we will see each other again.
Anakin:
I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise.
Shmi
Skywalker: Now, be brave, and don't look back. Don't look back.
This is
the scene from Star Wars 1 when Anakin leaves his mother to become a Jedi. In order to grow and become strong he must
let go, not knowing if he will see his mother again. What happens when you let
go of a rope? You fall, you have no control of where you will land, your heart
is filled with fear, the closest thing to compare to it is when you go down on
a roller coaster ride, and your heart is all the sudden in your belly and
you’re asking yourself, what the heck did I get on this ride for? No control.
You can’t control your life if you let go of it, However Hebrews 10:23 states,
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised IS
faithful! Sometimes in order to fulfill God’s will, you have to let go of the
past and sometimes even the present.
As she
held her grandpa’s hand, she remembered the boat rides her and her brother
shared with him. She remembered riding
on the golf cart around the acreage on his lot, she remembered the donuts…the
smell of his shop when the family visited, Frank’s Donut House, “the place with
taste”. Those buttermilk donuts were the best with butter dripping off…Now she was in
his hospital room watching her grandpa fall in and out of consciousness, with
that stupid brace around his neck…He was in so much pain, why didn’t he just go
home to Jesus. Then while still holding his hand, she stroked his
hair and said, “Why won’t you go home, you are worried about grandma aren’t
you?” “Grandpa you need to trust your
family, we will take care of her, and we will still love her…I promise, grandpa
you have to let go”…within 24 hours he had gone home…
What I am sharing is a
glimpse of what happened when I went to say goodbye to my Grandpa Barkman.
Matthew
Perry had a show on TV titled Go On, the premise is Matthew’s character is a
man who just lost his wife in a car accident and now must figure out how to go
through life without her. He joins a
support group where he finds others as messed up as he is. In one episode he and another group member
realize they need to physically release a symbol of what they are clinging to
in order to further heal. Together they
tie their wedding rings to balloons and they release them, lying down on the
ground they watch their past lives fly away and begin to move on.
This
past July I had a Letting Go Birthday Party.
Some friends and I went to a park wrote down what we needed to let go
of, tied it to a balloon, then let go…It was very healing. We as humans go through trials, sometimes in
the midst of these events we need to heal and even let go. We also have to remind ourselves to not go to the
cross and take these issues back from Him, but remember, He is God and He knows
what He is doing…I have to let go of my rope…In this case I let go of a balloon.
Sometimes, however,
I can also see God holding the top of a rope, as if I were hanging on the end
of a cliff. I can hear Him say, and He
is screaming ; Lauri, Let Go…You Have To
Trust Me. So Here I am…Letting Go! As we Let Go of 2013 and begin 2014 I invite
you, on your own or with some friends to let go of last year, mistakes,
regrets, emotions, whatever you are clinging on to…Let go and embrace this new
year!
His mercies are new every morning
and every New Year!! It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great
is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23.
