Surrender is a Conversation with Life

Wednesday Wisdom.

In the past week, I held a book club discussion on Seeking Surrender, and I also held a contemplative prayer evening on the journey of surrender. Every time I share my book, I discover something more about what surrender means to and for other people.

Last night, in the book club, someone shared about an encounter she had with someone at the gym, which made her feel mistreated. She asked me: Should I just surrender to this? I understood her frustration and that she didn’t want to just “roll over,” and not stick up for herself.

What is surrender in our day to day lives, in  the very ordinary moments of our lives? It’s an important question. I have found that surrender is an orientation towards our lives–a way of opening up to how God is guiding and leading up. Does that translate into learning to “let go” when something bothers us? It could, but not necessarily.

I believe we are co-creating our lives with God, and not just passively shrugging our shoulders and feeling defeated or frustrated. In our surrendering we are making choices on how to respond, and what to hold in our hearts over any situation. There are times when surrendering will be asserting ourselves, and other times when it will be not reacting to a situation.

Surrender is a conversation with life–and in this conversation God is always present and participating. Perhaps, just remembering to bring God into that conversation is the most important thing we can do.

Learning to reflect and discern are integral to the surrender journey. We can do this through prayer, through journal writing, through a daily examen process, or by talking with a trusted friend.

Pause right now. Take a few deeper breaths. Scan your day. Notice what stands out. Ask God to help you reflect, to see clearly. Notice where you stayed open; notice where you were resistant.

And as another woman in the book club so aptly said: There are gems to discover in our resistances. It just depends how we hold them.