Day 11 - Letting Go...What's the Point?

At the heart of primal idolatries…is the belief that we have found a way to bring a recalcitrant and unpredictable part of the world under our control.  ~Andy Crouch

I’m one-quarter of the way through Lent and the spiritual discipline of letting go (and blogging about it) is getting harder. I’m wrestling with some of the upcoming topics and letting go seems to be digging a bit deeper into my soul. So, I thought I would return to the bigger question…Why? What’s the point of letting go, again?Adele Calhoun, in her book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us says the underlying desire that drives the discipline of detachment (letting go), is a desire to “nurture the spirit of trust that is attached to God alone” (Calhouhn, 95). Ultimately, letting go is about trusting God. Let’s walk through the process.Calhoun defines the spiritual discipline of detachment thus:

Detachment means replacing the attachment to (1) idolatrous relationships and (2) self-serving goals and agendas for success, money, power, ego, productivity and image with wholehearted attachment to and trust in God alone.

Perhaps her description of “idolatrous relationships” seems a bit harsh; at least it did to me. But, here’s the thing, anything or any relationship in my life that takes priority over God, by definition, ends up being an idol. Most of us in the Western culture do not set up handcrafted idols on a shelf and bow down to them, so I’m not talking about those kinds of idols.  Andy Crouch, in his book Playing God, defines an idol as “a cultural artifact that embodies a false claim about the world’s ultimate meaning…implicitly or explicitly, all idols represent a challenge and counterclaim to the identity and character of the true Creator God” (emphasis added). He continues, “All idols begin by offering great things for a very small price” (Crouch, 55).   Then he quotes psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover by noting, “idols ask for more and more, while giving less and less, until eventually they demand everything and give nothing” (Crouch, 56). Addiction is one of the easiest ways to illustrate this point. Someone who is in need of a little “pick-me-up” may decide to have a glass of wine in the middle of the afternoon. And it works! Alcohol has fulfilled the promise of courage and fun. Later, one glass does not satisfy and the person needs increasingly more and more alcohol to achieve the same sensation. You can see how the offer and experience of delight from an idol can turn into a life-sucking, iron chokehold.The same effect happens with idols such as power, money, image, and more. It’s not as clear when idols appear to be good things, such as family or health, but an unhealthy relationship with good things can eventually squeeze the life out of you. Good things become idols when they claim to have ultimate meaning and grant you transcendence. In the end, the allure of idols is that somehow we can be in control of our life and don’t have to trust God.God’s desire for all of creation is abundance and flourishing. If we are being sucked dry by the idols we create, that doesn’t count as flourishing! Giving up idols, giving up the idea that we can be in ultimate control (like God), is actually our ticket to freedom and flourishing.Reflecting on an earlier post about perfectionism, we can see that the allure of the idol of perfectionism is that I can have the perfect life if I simply demand perfection from myself and everyone around me. Well, it works for a while, and I can do a few things (seemingly) perfectly, but after a while, it is unsustainable. Pretty soon, the idol is driving me and I have become the slave. Giving up perfectionism or (fill in the blank), means acknowledging that it has a stranglehold on me, like an idol. God has this amazing way of untangling the web, brushing off the dust and enfolding me in loving arms while whispering to me that I am truly a beloved child.The answer to my original question is pretty clear, now. The point of letting go is to be free from the insidious and often subtle grip of idolatry…no longer a slave but free to trust God.I’m ready to move on.

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Day 12 - Letting Go of Unforgiveness

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Day 10 - Letting Go of Distractions