Article March 27, 1926 Issue

Letting Go

FRED B. KERRICK

We are told in the Scriptures that when Abram came up out of Egypt with his many possessions,—cattle, silver, gold, tents, and many herdsmen,—accompanied by his kinsman, Lot, who also possessed much wealth, there was apparently not room enough for the possessions of both in the land of Beth-el. As a consequence, strife arose between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. Abram, however, was not disturbed. He had already found, in past experiences, that the best way to master any problem is through prayer; and so in this experience he turned whole-heartedly to God, and was thus enabled to surrender human ways and means for the divine. Then said he to Lot: "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left."

Is it surprising, when Abram manifested such willingness to surrender selfishness, to go either to the right hand or to the left, or even to take what Lot might not want, that God answered his prayer by saying to him, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever"?

Such an exemplification of the surrender of self-interests, possessions, and personal desires is contrary to human nature and to the beliefs of mortals in the so-called laws of selfpreservation. The innate tendency of the human mind is to cling to all that is material—to all that is "mine"; because believing that its material possessions have intrinsic value, it fears their loss. Even a child, as soon as he is old enough to play with toys, puts up strenuous resistance to protect his own. Holding on to what we call our rights and fighting for them is certainly not leaning on God or trusting Him to make the proper adjustment of our affairs; rather is it the false foundation upon which mortals endeavor to claim their own and fail.

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Letting Go

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