A Prayer for Letting Go (Terror and Awe)
July 30, 2023

Open your hands.
Release all you hold.
Be released from all that holds you.
There is a prayer for letting go...
It starts with this: Catch me.

What is it in us
that does the letting go? 
It is the same 
as what does the catching.

"But," you say, "it’s scary."
Oh, I know. 
The fear keeps you imprisoned 
in your gilded cage,
Trust me.
The lack of trust makes you stay 
within your comfort zone.

But, readiness must be earned, 
not forced.
And you must be ripe, not green.
You’ll know when the time comes:
Because the fruit is nearly falling off the tree...
Because you are nearly falling off the world...
Pushing away from what no longer serves... 
Coming apart from the supports...
Sensing something wide open... 
So open, it might swallow you whole...
By that point you're already in too deep.
What else is there to do?
You could cling—but it’s unnatural now.
You could shut your eyes—but the light will blind you anyhow.
Let go. It's holding you now.

More than fear, it’s terror you say?
Let me give you a tip:
There’s a fine line between terror and awe.
Both tremulous affects.
Both emotions of seeking 
Standing there in the truth of your own fragility, 
right on the edge of your own oblivion—
Standing in the presence of something so great 
it could destroy you if it chose to…

Will it? 
The degree to which you trust 
decides whether you experience
terror or awe.
The degree to which you are in touch 
with what cannot be obliterated in you
is the difference between falling 
and flying.