Maybe love is letting go

A long, long time ago there was a really big meeting.  All of humanity was there.  God stood up at the front of the massive space that held all of us and said, “Hello, my beautiful and diverse creations. We are here today to discuss the matter of your becoming. Over the next several thousand years, I’m going to release you all into the world. The purpose of this journey will be for you to become love. What we have to figure out is the best way for that to happen. Because I value your opinions, I want you to break up into small groups, discuss this amongst yourselves and then we’ll come back together and present our solutions.” 

So a very diverse, and somewhat naive, humanity pushed their chairs together and divided up into small groups to discuss what it meant to become love and what means would get them there. At the end of this discussion, there were two basic ideas put forward. 

The first idea was that the important part of becoming was the finish line. An especially intelligent one stood up and said, “If we can just get everyone to the end without making these completely avoidable mistakes, then that will mean we became love.” They revealed a detailed formula, complete with flow charts, steps and rules. They spent time calculating statistical probabilities and laying out pros and cons lists. Everyone was really impressed by the thought that went into all of this. It seemed pretty obvious that this was the way to go.  It meant safety for the entire human race and no one would be left behind. 

At the end of their presentation, God said, “This is very interesting, and I can tell you put a lot of work into it.  Now lets hear the next idea.” 

Another stood at the front, a little intimidated by all of the data and preparation that went into the first presentation, but committed to sharing her perspective. “I guess I have a different opinion on what becoming love means. I represent those who believe that becoming happens in the process.  That our becoming will happen through a million different circumstances and thoughts and feelings.  And while we are going through these, we will feel painfully alone at times.  But that the more of these experiences we have, and the more we look outward—into the faces of our fellow creations and into the mountains and the sea and the grass and trees and insects and animals—the more we will find ourselves.  That we will realize we are all made of the same light and energy.  That our experiences, however diverse, are really one experience.”

She went on, “I am worried that if we go with the first groups plan, we will miss out on this—the living part of life.” 

After she spoke, a murmuring wave of low voices passed through the immense crowd.  God stood up and thanked both for their presentations.  “You have given us a lot to think about.  Because I believe in you, I am going to give each of you a vote for what kind of experience you want.  What will best support you in becoming love?  We will meet back here in an hour to vote.” 

The crowd came to life with voices attempting to persuade others to their way of thinking.  Some were quiet, tearful conversations, other’s gave impassioned, threatening speeches.  The time passed quickly.  God reentered the space.  Everyone quieted down, the room thick with anticipation for this all-important decision. 

God spoke softly, “I’m afraid this is going to disappoint some of you and relieve some of you.  I have been thinking this over and I offered you something that ultimately I cannot give. In the last hour, I realized that I love you all too much to force either side into something they don’t have confidence in.”

Everyone was really confused by this. God normally didn’t change his mind on things, so this was unusual. The woman who spoke earlier stepped forward. “I feel like I’ve already said enough, and you all know how I feel.”

God’s loving gaze turned to her, “Please, go on.”

“God, what you’ve said you want for us is to become love. As I’ve been watching you today, I have considered that maybe love is just the opposite of control. Maybe love is trusting you, the creator, and trusting us, as your creations.  Maybe love is letting go.”

“It’s going to be messy,” God replied, “and I will be there in every space imaginable—I will be right there.” In that moment we all knew what we had to do, that letting go was the first step in our becoming love. So together, we walked into the world knowing that it would be a mess—knowing that our first instinct would be to control and manipulate and coerce, even in the name of love. But we also trusted that we would find God in the letting go.