The Spirit Moves In Wondrous Ways

“Chaplain, I’m ready; I’ve been ready since my wife of 68 years passed away five years ago, but in the meantime I trust that God has a plan for me. I just need to let go and accept that I’m not the one in control.”  The elderly patient, who had just decided with his family to move to hospice care, revealed that he really was more in control than he thought.

To “let go and accept;” simple, powerful and, no doubt, generally difficult to accomplish.  Not to be confused with being submissive, what this patient was demonstrating was the ancient practice of spiritual detachment.  The dictionary speaks of detachment in terms of separating oneself from those attachments in our life that have become distractions while maintaining our objectivity. 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever would come after me to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Matthew 16:24

Those attachments can come in many forms and in our modern world can often be a source of addiction; food, alcohol, drugs, sex, power – anything that engenders emotional dependence.  Detachment as a spiritual practice, having been around for millennia, means disconnecting from those material things or people that foster dependence, while resisting becoming aloof, dispassionate, disinterested or indifferent.  It can actually sharpen, rather than dull, our senses to the effect these things may be having upon us.  As a result, it is an opportunity to explore our true spiritual nature. 

Detachment can facilitate attaining a heightened perspective for spiritual growth through a self-discipline that allows us to focus on our ultimate concerns, liberating us from the superficial things of this world. This patient, by sharing his ultimate concern as being able to rejoin his beloved wife, as he put it, “on the dance floor of heaven…but all in God’s time” rekindled an image of how they had met those many decades ago; and his joy in that memory and new-found freedom filled the room.

The power derived from practicing spiritual detachment is drawn from a disciplined approach that separates those things that lure our emotional dependence from a sense of trust in a deeper connection with self and being.  That trust is what facilitates our ability to detach, releasing us for spiritual freedom and growth.

“… I just need to let go and accept that I’m not the one in control.”

Having attachments is not necessarily bad; on the contrary, it’s part of life, part of human nature, to have attractions and establish connections – we seem to be hard-wired with those desires.  It’s these connections that often form the foundation of our relationships and how we interrelate with self, each other, the world, and the divine.  The key is understanding and conquering the difference between a connection versus an attachment; while the former implies something symbiotic or mutually beneficial, the latter confers something unhealthy, something draining to our spirit if we allow it. 

We may certainly have interests and pursuits that become a part of who we are, that help define us; it’s when those people, things, or activities possess or consume us to the point where we no longer feel good about who we are, as we are; it’s where insecurity, anxiety or fear begin to control us.  It’s when our life pursuits or possessions become all about us, where we become attached to our will and having our way; that is when making a change, i.e. detachment, is imperative.

Next time: Part II – How do we practice and perfect spiritual detachment?

Reflection questions:

1. How would you characterize your immediate life priorities versus your ultimate concerns?  To what extent are these different and/or at odds with one another?

Scripture References

Matthew 16:24