Letting Go Lent Meditation by Kathy Bonner Herren
Ecclesiastes 3:6 - A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to castaway
I have experienced many forms of “letting go” and none of them have been easy. I always have to go through a period of grief and reflection before I can move on. In the late 1980s after 11 years of employment in a small medical practice, I resigned from my job as bookkeeper and transcriptionist. I loved the job. I also developed relationships with patients and felt a part of their medical journeys. One elderly couple even invited me and the office nurse to come to their house for an evening meal. We sat at their large kitchen table while she fried catfish that her husband caught that morning.
I was pregnant with Nathan and Aaron during those years. The patients would check on me when they came for their appointments just to make sure everything was going well. It really became a home away from home.
As years passed, my employer became dissatisfied with the everyday operation of his office. Everything I did seemed to displease him. My working conditions went from difficult to intolerable. I resigned my position and told him I hoped he could find someone who could meet his expectations.
I grieved for a long time before an answer was revealed to me and helped me to understand that I had not failed at something I loved so much. These are the words that brought me peace: “Kathy, you did all the good you could do there so brush the dust from your sandals and walk towards the new day. Your work in this world is not over.”
I was pregnant with Nathan and Aaron during those years. The patients would check on me when they came for their appointments just to make sure everything was going well. It really became a home away from home.
As years passed, my employer became dissatisfied with the everyday operation of his office. Everything I did seemed to displease him. My working conditions went from difficult to intolerable. I resigned my position and told him I hoped he could find someone who could meet his expectations.
I grieved for a long time before an answer was revealed to me and helped me to understand that I had not failed at something I loved so much. These are the words that brought me peace: “Kathy, you did all the good you could do there so brush the dust from your sandals and walk towards the new day. Your work in this world is not over.”
- Kathy Bonner Herren
