All of the world’s spiritual traditions talk about the power of surrender in the spiritual life, yet there is much confusion about what surrender actually entails. For example, many people have an uneasy feeling about surrender because they believe it implies passivity, weakness, or victimhood. Nothing could be further from the truth! As a starting point, the word surrender means to deliver ourselves over to something other than ourselves, that is, to merge with a belief, energy, emotion, ideology, a group, another person, a political party, our egos, an impulse, our karma, and so forth. Consciously or unconsciously, we are all surrendered to something or other. Obviously, surrender is more than an academic issue. What we surrender to determines our life trajectory, our destiny. Spiritual surrender is the highest form of surrender because it is based on a well-informed choice made in the light of full freedom and consciousness. Ultimately, spiritual surrender is the choice to merge with God‘s truth, beauty, and goodness. The Jewish patriarch Joshua told his people, “Choose this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Surrender
Is not
Passivity, weakness, or victimhood.
Surrender is
Liberation,
Strength,
And direction.
