Only when a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, will it produce fruit. This is how life renews itself. For us this is an ongoing process. We are constantly letting things go, letting things die, as we move through life. Last year prior to the pandemic, we were used to how thing were unfolding. We thought the way things were done was the way. We were so full of life. Then the sickness came and the way we were doing things had to die. But, we didn’t die. We created, new opportunities and new ways to stay in community with one another were opened to us. Out of the death of one life, a new way of doing things, a new life was formed.
Even the need to wear masks caused how we physically looked at each other to die, but we didn’t stop seeing. We wore masks that reflected our personality, we learned to smile with our eyes. For me, it gave me permission to look you in the eye. What did I see? A great beauty that I might have missed had this death not happened.
Letting things or people in our life go, fall to the ground, and die so a new and better life can come about can be troubling. We even heard Jesus just say that he was troubled by it. Transition can feel like everything is falling apart, but in reality, everything is coming together for your highest good. So, how do we go about doing this without totally falling to pieces? By hating our life.
Jesus says whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Let’s face it, no spiritual journey ever started from a place of happiness. They begin from a deep-seated sense that something is missing. Hating our life provides a map for transformation. We should hate our life.
According to St Ignatius, this doesn’t mean to not care about our lives or throw them away, it introduces the concept of detachment from things. The things we pursue or avoid at all costs. They might even seem to us to be good things. But, if we aren’t careful, these things can take over our mind, take over our consciousness. They become all we think about, and eventually trap us. They can cause us to make decisions that go against our fundamental beliefs and even lead us away from Jesus. Jesus tells us to hate and lose that life.
The life that results when we practice detachment, is a life we live in balance with all that happens to us. A life where the successes and losses we experience don’t get us off track. A life where hopes of getting more or fear of losing what we have doesn’t control our decisions. A reflection I was reading refers to this way of living as sitting lightly to things and circumstances around us. When we sit lightly, we can enjoy and be grateful for the gifts we are given and not fall to pieces if we lose them, need to let them go, or need to let them die.
It is only our trust in Jesus that brings us peace in this life. Our faith in him allows us to let things in our life die at the right time and know that everything will be okay, and that new growth will happen. We trust him because we know him. We know what he did for us. He let something beautiful, himself, die so that new life would result. His death and resurrection made eternal life with the God who created us and loves us available to everyone.
If you don’t know Jesus, get to know him. Find a bible and prayerfully read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and listen to him speak to you. He already knows and loves you. Our faith in Jesus allows us to live balanced, detached lives. This is how your life can renew itself.