Let
Go of Certainty
“Sometimes
the slightest things change the direction of our lives, the merest
breath of circumstance, a random moment that connects like a
meteorite striking earth. Lives have swiveled and changed direction
on the strength of a chance remark.”
Bryce
Courtenay (The Power of One)
My parents married in
1941—she was 18, and he, 21. While they were on their honeymoon in
Atlanta my mother dreamed she was walking down a street past a
newspaper stand, where she saw a headline that read, “US Declares
War on Japan.” Their wedding was seventy-eight years ago today,
November 30th, and seven days later, Pearl Harbor was
bombed by the Japanese. That, of course, was no slight thing, but it
changed the direction of their lives, and my sister's life, and mine,
forever. We were only one small example of all the billions of lives
changed by war.
But it doesn't take an
extravagant event like war to change the course of one's life—it
may be a chance meeting, a conversation overheard, even a revelation
shown in facial expression or body language. I think of all the men
and women who have asked the loyalty question of their spouse, and
known the answer simply by the look on their face. Think of all the
people who were living their lives one day, going about business as
usual, and the next day wild fire consumed their home and all their
belongings. Or the Parkland kids who were planning their prom one
day, and burying their friends the next. Or the mega-million dollar
lottery winner who was scraping by, trying to pay bills one day, and
awash in cash the next. Or, just this week, churches across the
country came together to pay off millions of dollars of medical debt
for hundreds of people. All of these unplanned and unexpected events
changed lives forever.
The lesson here is to let
go of certainty—there is no such thing. Also, in the letting go of
certainty, allow life to happen as it happens. Not only allow it, but
welcome it. Here's Mark Nepo's advice: “Live humble as a dog and
the world will come alive in your mouth.” (The Book of Awakening)
We don't have to fear change—we simply have to expect it. Things
change; relationships change, life changes. We can fight against
obstacles to our certainty or we can see where life takes us. Again,
Nepo: “In a world that lives like a fist, mercy is no more than
waking with our hands open.”
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment