Are we a people of holding on or of letting go?

Holding on to rigid ideas or

Letting go and opening our minds and our hearts, to something new;

Holding on to certainty of how things should be or

Letting go and living with the uncertainty of new ways of being in the world;

Holding on to what makes us comfortable or

Letting go so we may grow which can be uncomfortable;

Holding on to what makes us safe or

Letting go to make room to help others feel safe?

With this flame, this symbol of our religion,

let it be a symbol of burning up the ties that hold us back from being our true self and reaching our true potential;

let it be a symbol of lighting a new way for us into a better tomorrow;

and let it be a symbol of letting go

Because holding on too long and too tightly is never good for the soul.