Let Go

Let Go can be translated into Chinese as “放手” (fangshou). This phrase literally means to release the grip on something. It is to relinquish control over something, someone, or a situation and let them be. It carries a sense of releasing negative emotions, past hurt, and anxious thoughts.

Let Go can be a painful process that requires time to walk through, from confusion to clarity, from struggles to freedom. The “through” experience can be short-lived or life-long. It involves suffering and death to self, as one lets go of things held dear and treasured in the heart. It requires courage, strength, and faith that is given by God and actively participated in by us. It is a path of total surrender and leaning on God, relinquishing oneself, and growing closer in our understanding of who God is. 

Let Go is to ultimately “let God;” becoming vulnerable and humble. It is the wrestling encounter Jacob had at the ford of the Jabbok (Genesis 32: 22-32); Jesus’s agony on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39-46) or at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-45; Mark 14: 32-42) to the point of a “bloody sweat,” and his cry of dereliction over the abandonment of God on the cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

By naming or giving shape to things that we need to let go of—pain, disappointment, offense, trauma, broken dreams, or unhealthy relationships, we are able to make decisions to detach ourselves from them, creating space for healing, forgiveness, growth, and freedom. By letting go of our attachment to expectations of people or desired outcomes, we open new horizons of grief, relief, mystery, and transformation. 

The practice of letting go has been adapted by spiritual leaders over the centuries, from François Fénelon’s spiritual letter to Thomas Keating’s welcoming prayer. Chinese Daoist tradition believes in an effortless action where letting go takes place without striving, the so-called notion of “无为” (wuwei). In this way, Zhuangzi, the Chinese philosopher who lived around the fourth century BC, holds that one can reach “逍游” (xiaoyou)—a state of wandering endlessly without the constraints of the world. For Christians, it is through the process of human struggles and wrestling through Christ that we can achieve the kind of freedom that gives us life and life to the full (John 10:10). The state of shalom is articulated in the prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:

Let nothing disturb you, 
Let nothing frighten you, 
All things are passing away: 
God never changes. 
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing; 
God alone suffices.

The poem “Let Go,” written nearly 20 years ago, is an invitation to let go of our regrets, hurts, and irritations. It focuses on human relationships and the need for forgiveness and grace. It has been used in leadership training and spiritual retreats over the years. It also applies to other areas of life. In times of transition in ministry and changes of season, what are the things that we still hold tight in our hands? How about trying to open our palms as a gesture of letting go of whatever might hinder us? What does it look or feel like to let them go? What are the new gifts we are receiving here and now as we step into the new year?

Watch a video production of “Let Go” on YouTube.

©Xiaoli Yang. All rights reserved.

Xiaoli Yang

  Rev. Dr. Xiaoli Yang is an Australian Chinese theologian, pastor, poet, and spiritual director. She is currently serving Australian Association of Mission Studies and on the editorial board of Australian Journal of Mission Studies.    View Full Bio

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