LET GO AND LET GOD
Clifford was leaning against the fence, enjoying a beautiful view from the top of Grand Canyon, when the wooden posts suddenly ripped from their cement moorings. Seconds later, Clifford was plunging down into the abyss.
Halfway to the bottom his desperate arm-waving helped Clifford catch and clutch the branch of a scrubby tree that grew from the canyon wall. Grasping, gasping, he looked both up and down. No way could he climb that sheer cliff, even if he could swing his body toward the wall. But below yawned the chasm, unbroken by any other tree or holding place. To fall would be to die, horribly crushed on the rocks below. No one had seen him fall, and he hung there out of sight, knowing that the wind would scatter his weak voice no matter how loudly he shouted.
Desperate, Clifford cried out to the heavens: "God help me!" Hearing his own trembling voice, he wailed again, "Please, God, help me."
To Clifford's amazement, he heard an immediate answer. "All right," came the voice. The initial warmth Clifford felt turned to a chill wind gripping his body as the voice continued: "Let go."
Looking down, Clifford saw the huge boulders waiting below, and he knew again that if he let go he would surely die. Let go? he thought. "But God, you don't understand!" he yelled up. "I'm too far up, I'll ..."
"Let go," the voice repeated.
Silence filled the canyon. Then, in a weak, terrified voice Clifford called out, "Is there anyone else up there?"
DEFINING "TO LET GO"
To let go does not mean to stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else.
To let go is not to cut myself off, it's the realization I can't control another.
To let go is not to enable but to allow learning from natural
consequences.
To let go is to admit powerlessness which means the outcome is
not in my hands.
To let go is not to try to change or blame another, it is to make the most of myself.
To let go is not to judge but to allow another to be human.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to effect their destinies.
To let go is not to be protective, it is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.
To let go is not to criticize and regulate anybody but to try and become what I dream to be.
To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.
To let go is to fear less, and to love more.
No matter what anybody else does or says, only I am responsible for what I say or do.
LET GO AND LET GOD
As children bring their broken toys
In tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because he was my friend.
I should have turned and walked away
And let Him work alone;
Instead, I stayed and tried to help,
In ways that were my own.
I snatched them back and cried aloud,
"Why do you work so slow?!"
"My child," He said, "what could I do?
You never did let go."