"When it gets to the hard part, you just have to let go."
Who said this, and what did they mean?
Was it a philosopher? teacher? author? artist? pastor?
Is it about dealing with relationships? finding direction in life? working creatively? following Jesus?
This deeply meaningful, wise, insightful, and very true statement was uttered by my four-year-old son, and he was talking about toilets. Yes, toilets. [We stayed at a hotel last weekend and apparently the toilet seat had a mechanism that prevents it from slamming down. In trying to lower it himself, Nate discovered that it was best to let go when it got hard to push it down and it would go the rest of the way by itself. Thus, the gem of wisdom above.]
I am thankful to have heard Nate say this as he was walking into the room and, having no frame of reference, I was granted a moment to interpret it as a free-standing statement. (Unlike Jon, who was with Nate in the bathroom and heard it as a statement about toilet seats from the get-go.) It is true, about mechanized toilet seats and about many other things. Thank you, Nate.
3 comments:
As four-year-old Nate grows up and leaves behind his Keswick theology of "Let go and let God" he will most certainly turn to the preferred Reformed doctrine of Martin Luther, who wrote, "You must let God be God: He knows more about you than you do about yourself." It is a subtle distinction that I am sure this budding theologian will have down by his 5th or 6th birthday. :)
But on a serious note, and this is the truth that Nate is really pointing us towards, in Hebrews 4:11 we read, "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest..." To enter into that rest is hard work! And, in a similar fashion, sometimes the only way to let go is to actively let go. And this, of course, is always the most difficult way to let go.
Thanks Brian, it's fun to have friends in seminary! :)
Great verse from Hebrews -- making effort to enter rest... God sure does love a good paradox.
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