The Sacrament of Letting Go
This title phrase is used by Macrina Wiederkehr in her excellent
book of prayers and reflections "Seasons of Your Heart." ... We
need to think of "letting go" as a sacrament, because to let go is
so very difficult.

When our children were younger, I would sometimes hear them say,
"Dad, you worry too much." And I would reply, "I'm a parent; it is
part of my job!" And they would wrinkle their faces and squint
their eyes and say something like: "O, Dad, give it up. Let go!"
There may have been a piece of me that was on target. However, a
piece of their message was also on target....

The trees of autumn teach us something about trusting and letting
go. Macrina Wiederkehr reflects that in the autumn of the year she
wants to lean her head against a tree and ask what it feels like
to lose so much - to be so empty of all the leaves - and then learn
again the whispered truth from the tree what it means to possess
the grace to let go and wait in trust for the next gift. O, trees
of autumn, teach us this sacrament of letting go - and the sacrament
of trust-filled waiting.

--by the Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey