Letting Go

… except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

— John 3:3

Jesus is referring to the heavenly birth, which means being born into the knowledge of truth.

— The Science of Mind, page 471

Letting Go

When I was a youngster, my mother used to take me with her to Cedar Lake in Wisconsin to go fishing. I had misgivings about leaving solid land and casting off for an unknown destination. I remember one occasion when I was satisfied to put my feet into the rickety rowboat, but I would not let go of the pier with my hands. I hung on, not heeding the cries of those friends around me: “Let go! Let go!” The boat drifted farther and farther from the wharf and my body, which was trying to be two places simultaneously, stretched until … splash!

Throughout the years this incident has come to my memory whenever I have been afraid to give up old ways and plunge into the new, and then somehow I always have summoned up the courage to move ahead.

In a sense, plunging into a new level of awareness, a new consciousness of Truth, is like letting go of all those things I thought I knew or at least I could count on. It is almost like diving into the invisible. It is a leap into faith. But the rewards are immense, for I have discovered that I am a spiritual being and that the world of spirit operates through me and is controlled by my very own thoughts, my very own mind.

Ten years ago a minister asked me: “Have you been born again?” I hesitated to answer because I was not sure that meant in relationship to my life. But … just let someone else ask me that question today! I have let go and I am peacefully in the middle of the lake.

Hooray for life!

Thank you, God; it’s another glorious day.

I let go of all that does not truly belong to me

—

worry, anger, fear, anxiety,

and I sail my boat upon a clear lake of love and peace.

I am reborn every moment,

as I pull up the sails and let my ship fly to new shores!