A year ago in Thailand my friend Stu was explaining Buddhism to our team. He used an illustration that it took me a whole year to understand. I felt like the disciples when they’d walk away from Jesus discussing what He taught, & missing it completely. The illustration Stu used was, “if you are holding a knife & someone takes it away you’re going to get hurt”…and then he went on. Well that didn’t make sense to me, if you try to take my knife away, YOU are  going to get hurt not me! It was my misunderstanding though. For when I was in Thailand this year Stu was using the same illustration & said, “if your holding a knife BLADE when someone tries to take away the knife from you…etc.” His point (that I had missed) is in Buddhism they teach hold everything with a loose grip. Don’t get too attached to “things”. In Christianity we’d share that same sentiment. “Let go – be open handed – have a loose grip”.

I met an Amish man in Philadelphia once who explained his interpretation of Luke 6:30 “Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.” He explained he heard a noise out in his large barn one night. He went out to see what was going on. Two men were stealing his ladders and loading them on their truck. He walked up and started helping them with the rest of the ladders. Needless to say, thy couldn’t let that continue, unloaded all the ladders and couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He explained, “I don’t know how I’d act in every situation, but this is the way I’d like to.”

Wow! I’ve been trying to figure out, how often should we do that? How do you get there? What am I holding too tightly to? If God pulls, will I get cut? What do I need to let go of? What do I need to have a loose grip with? Things, stuff, rights, pride; having my way? Once again hmmm…