Letting Go Is a Spiritual Practice - Rev. Sheryl Padgett, DDiv
Letting go is more than something we say—it is a spiritual practice. In Unity, we call this the Power of Elimination or Renunciation, one of our Twelve Powers. It is our spiritual capacity to release thoughts, beliefs, resentments, regrets, and patterns that no longer belong in the life we are being called to live.
Charles Fillmore taught that receiving and releasing are both necessary for spiritual growth. Just as our bodies must breathe in and breathe out, our consciousness must be able to take hold of the new and release what has completed its purpose. Sometimes we are praying for peace while still holding tightly to resentment. We ask for a new direction while insisting it look like the old one. We pray for love while demanding a guarantee that we will never be hurt again.
So perhaps the spiritual question is not always, “What do I need to receive?”
Sometimes it is, “What am I willing to release?”
Letting Go Makes Room
Nature gives us a beautiful example of elimination. In autumn, the trees release their leaves. The falling leaves are not evidence that something has gone wrong with the tree. Letting go is part of its natural cycle of life. What has completed its purpose is released, making room for new growth.
The same principle operates within us.
Letting go, however, does not mean pretending something did not happen. It does not mean denying our pain, forgetting our past, or refusing to grieve. In Unity, spiritual denial means denying the power of a limiting belief—not denying reality.
We don't say, “I was never hurt.” We say, “Being hurt does not make me unworthy of love.”
We don't say, “I never made that mistake.” We say, “That mistake does not contain the whole truth about me.”
We don't say, “There is nothing to grieve.” We say, “I can grieve without declaring my life over.”
We deny the limiting conclusion, not the lived experience.
Moving Toward Solid Ground
Sometimes we keep trying to recover something the past has taken from us—a relationship, an opportunity, trust, security, or even the person we were before something painful happened.
But healing may require us to recognize:
I do not have to recover everything I have lost before I can move forward.
We can acknowledge a loss without allowing it to stop us. We can recognize what happened without allowing it to determine where we go next.
We may especially want to recover certainty. We want guarantees that we will never be hurt, betrayed, disappointed, or afraid again. Yet spiritual maturity does not require complete certainty. We can experience fear without allowing fear to make our decisions. We can be vulnerable and strong at the same time.
We can keep moving toward solid ground.
The past can teach us without owning us. We can take responsibility for mistakes without sentencing ourselves to a lifetime of guilt. As the sermon reminds us:
We can keep the lesson without continuing the sentence.
Looking back can be healthy when we are seeking wisdom, understanding, healing, or an opportunity to make amends. The question is whether remembering helps us live or keeps us immobilized.
Am I visiting the past for wisdom, or have I moved back in?
Five Steps for Practicing the Power of Elimination
1. Become aware.
Notice what you are carrying. What resentment are you rehearsing? What regret are you still punishing yourself for? What belief about yourself no longer serves you? Awareness is the beginning of freedom.
2. Honor it and turn toward the Divine.
Don't pretend the experience did not matter. Acknowledge the hurt. Grieve the loss. Recognize that an old belief may once have helped or protected you. Then begin turning your attention toward your true spiritual nature and the possibilities before you.
3. Deny its power.
Give a loving but clear “no” to the belief that the past has authority over your future:
This fear does not get to decide my next action.
This mistake does not define my worth.
I do not need an apology before I begin caring for my own life.
4. Affirm a higher truth.
Elimination and affirmation belong together. After releasing the limiting belief, make room for something greater:
I am learning and growing.
I am guided by Divine Love.
I am willing to see another possibility.
5. Re-create.
Now there is room for something new. What will you choose to take hold of—peace, faith, forgiveness, courage, love, trust?
The complete spiritual movement is not simply:
I let go.
It is:
I let go—and I take hold of something higher.
Making Room for Something New
The Power of Elimination is an ongoing process of purification and release. We are continually deciding what belongs in the next chapter of our lives and what has completed its purpose.
Some things have taught us everything they came to teach us.
Some regrets have been carried long enough.
Some resentments have occupied enough space.
Some old versions of ourselves deserve to be thanked—and released.
We do not have to recover everything the past has taken. We do not need complete certainty before we can continue living and loving. We do not have to eliminate every fearful thought before we can experience peace.
We can loosen our grip, let the old leaves fall, and trust the Divine Life within us that already knows how to create something new.
Letting go isn't giving up. Letting go is making room.
Making room for peace.
Making room for love.
Making room for God.
Making room for the person we are becoming.
Affirmation:
I release what no longer serves me. I let go of the past, take hold of my good, and trust the Divine Life within me to lead me forward.
