In the hero stories, the call to go on a journey takes the form of a loss, an error, a wound, an unexplainable longing, or a sense of a mission. When any of these happens to us, we are being summoned to make a transition. It will always mean leaving something behind,…The paradox here is that loss is a path to gain. David Richo
Moments require the art of breathing. To receive the next moment in life, we have to let go of
the previous ones. The lesson of the lungs is to master letting go in our lives in order to receive.
Imagine you are going to swim under water. You take a deep breath and dive downward. After feeling the weightlessness of swimming, your lungs start to ache. Your body needs air. Your muscles may even cramp a little. You stay under as long as you can, forcing your body to do your will. As you head to the surface, you realize you dove deeper than you thought so you reach and pull for the top swimming as fast as you can kicking your legs furiously.
When you reach the surface, what is the first thing you do? Even though you ache to get fresh air in your body, you exhale before you inhale. Finally free from the water, you release whatever is left before you receive. No matter how badly you want air, you must complete the process, letting go of whatever air remains to make room for your next breath.
Letting go is crucial to receiving and a necessary part of breathing and of life. However, if you breathe as most of us live, even though air is abundant, you will suffocate trying to take in more and more without ever letting go. You will be so afraid there won’t be another breath that you’ll hold whatever air you have, look for a guarantee for the next breath, take in what you can, only letting go a little, until you pass out or worse. Jesus called his followers to let go in order to receive. (From Matthew 16, Mark 8, Luke 9) “You who want to hold onto your life will lose it. But if you can release your life, you’ll keep it,” or, in this context, those who want to save air will lose it and those who release it will find it.
In Nashville, I heard two very different songs with the same challenge – Let it Go. The first is by Travis Meadows, the second The McCrary Sisters. See if they don’t share the lesson of the lungs and remind you to “Let it Go.”
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