Letting Go to Live in Truth
What does hitting rock bottom look like for you? It’s different for everyone, but it usually comes with the realization that our addictions and attachments are not just controlling us — they might even be destroying us.
Going Inward to Let Go
Christian contemplation explores the practice of letting go by going inward. Right now, many Christians are celebrating Lent, which honors the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert before beginning his life as a public teacher. In many ways, he was letting go of his attachments to connect more deeply with his own Divine truth.
According to clinical psychologist and host of Turning to the Mystics, James Finley, it is when we are disconnected from the truth that we risk becoming addicted to our grief and trauma.
Jim Finley explains the destructive power of shame and shares how we can let go of our attachment to brokenness.
“You don’t have to accept that what’s happening is okay. It is saying I will sit right here in reality. I will sit here in what is,” says Mirabai Starr, interfaith spiritual teacher and author.
Mirabai Starr invites us to find hope in “what is” through this practice from CAC’s CONSPIRE conference series.
Staying Open to What Is Invites Transformation
For many people, contemplation is a pathway to sitting with what is long enough for reality to reveal itself. As Living School alumnus Timothy McMahan King says, “It was this rooting in contemplative practice that drew me to be public about my opioid addiction.”
As Timothy discovered during his time in the Living School and while writing his book Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis Reveals about Us, letting go of any kind of addiction is not just a physical transformation, but also a spiritual one.
Timothy shares his healing journey through a daily contemplative practice of grounding.
“The question for each of us is not whether we are addicted but how we are addicted, and to what,” says Timothy. “Denial of the existence of addiction in your life is not a mark of moral accomplishment but a sign of blindness.
“Contemplation, sitting in openness to what is, enables us to recognize — and possibly even change — the stories we tell ourselves that bind us to our attachments and addictions.”
“When our view of the cross is that God demands blood in order to redeem, it is little surprise we have a country and culture that wants to see people suffer even more before help will be provided. But when we understand a God who enters into our suffering, we see that it is grace through which we are transformed.”
—Timothy McMahan King, Addiction Nation
Reflect With Us
What are some ways you could invite greater openness into your contemplative practice? What are you ready to let go of? Share your reflection with us.
We Conspire is a new monthly email from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the emerging Christian contemplative movement. Join spiritual seekers from around the world on a journey of transformation and discover your place in the Great Story Line that connects us all in the One Great Life. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.