"Sell All"--Let Go, Let God and a Richness Will be Yours

This morning I needed to come to the Lord and share the disappointment in myself, an internal poverty of spirit when something I was doing was not working and another suggested another way that I believed would not work either and then getting huffy about it.  It is the poverty that manifest itself in my reactions when a person suggest I do something that contradicts affirming that I know what I am doing and when I do not want to be contradicted or when I am entrenched into “I’m in charge here,” or I want it my way!

Then I opened today’s Scripture.  In the Gospel, Jesus says to the rich, young man: “Go sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mk 10:17-27). So what is the Lord saying to those of us who insist on being right, on having it our way, of needing to be in charge, no matter what, of wanting affirmation and approval of what we are doing, even when it is not working?  Perhaps the answer lies in what Abram said to Lot concerning which land would be his and what would be Abram’s:  “If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right, then I will go to the left” (Gen. 13:9).  A richness will be ours when we say “Okay” or simply let go instead of attempting to win the argument.  Letting go and letting be without imposing our way upon the situation, especially when our way is not working, can lead to a richness the world cannot give: peace within, even if the other person’’ way does not work either or is not what we would have done!

 This spiritual journey, Lord, is challenging. Show us the way and give us the strength to persevere in our efforts to “sell all” or, at least, to sell being right so something new can possibly develop, even when it may not have be the way we would do it.