“Follow me,” isn’t only about going somewhere, it’s also about leaving behind. That’s the hard part for most of us. We’re pretty good at accumulating and clinging but not so good at letting go. More often than not our spiritual growth involves some kind of letting go. We accept Jesus’ invitation to follow, not by packing up, but by letting go. We can never get to a new place in life unless we are willing to leave where we are. We can never hold anything new or different unless we're willing to drop what's already in our hands. That means letting go of our nets, getting out of our boats, and walking away from old man Zebedee.
Tag: Detachment
The Secret To Life – A Sermon On John 12:20-33
Seeing Jesus isn’t a spectator sport. It is a way to be followed, a truth to be embodied, a life to be lived. It's being a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies so that it might bear much fruit. That's where we see him. It's the letting go, the emptying, the leaving behind, and the dying that makes space for new life to arise.
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Lent with the Desert Fathers: Is it Yours?
A Word From the Desert "The same Abba Agathon was walking with his disciples. One of them, finding a small green pea on the road, said to the old man, ‘Father, may I take it?’ The old man, looking at…
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Lent with the Desert Fathers: Detachment and Simplicity
A Word From the Desert Abba Zosimos said, “In time, through neglect, we lose even the little fervor that we suppose we have in our ascetic renunciation. We become attached to useless, insignificant, and entirely worthless matters, substituting these for the…
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Unbinding and Letting Go of the Past
“If only….” “If only he hadn’t died.” “If only she hadn’t left.” If only I had made a different decision.” “If only I hadn’t said that.” “If only I had not done that.” “If only things were like they used…
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Expectations, Baggage, and God
Remember packing for the last trip you took? Suitcases, backpacks, bags. Sometimes packing can be the most stressful part of the journey. What did you take? What did you leave behind? Why did you take what you did? Most of…
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Growing Up And Moving Home – A Sermon On Luke 2:41-52
The lectionary offers three options for the Second Sunday After Christmas. My parish will be celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. We used the Matthew option last year. So this year I choose Luke 2:41-52 as our…
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The Last Anchorite
In a previous post I mentioned Father Lazarus, a hermit on the mountain of St. Anthony. His life is one of detachment, silence, and solitude. Those things are not about absence but rather presence. They are practices and ways of…
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Detachment – Opening the Way to Salvation
A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, "Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved." So the old man said, "Go to the cemetery and abuse the dead." The brother went there,…
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Sacred Time
Technology has to some degree enabled humanity to subdue and manage the natural world, the world of space. This conquest has often come at the expense of time. We expend time in our effort to gain space and the things…
Interrupting the Silence 