Splash No. 108 - Surrender

Surrender

When I would regularly participate in religious discussions in college, more often than not, someone would suggest, “surrendering to God is probably the answer.” And it usually was. When it came to everyday problems like calming test anxiety or facing moral quandaries, absolving yourself of control in favor of God was a great way to do that. When it came to the longterm goal of dissolving the ego and being able to selflessly serve the world, surrendering to God was a logical path there. At some point, it felt a bit humorous that regardless of which topic our discussion focused on, we would eventually resign ourselves to the answer of surrender. 

Since I grew up with these ideas, the concept always made sense. As long as I can remember, I’ve always believed in God and wanted to find solace in God, even as my definition and understanding of God changed. I feel like most people I meet these days aren’t religious, but I feel like the idea of surrender can be valuable to anyone. Anyone can choose to surrender to a higher power, whether it’s to God or a movement or a belief or a philosophy or the love of another. In general language, the word “surrender” is one of defeat and weakness, of giving up.  Yet, is there anything harder than letting go of control? Is it easy to cede the power that you think you have and the emotions you cling to when trying to accomplish the things you want? 

What surrender actually entails is zooming out from your individualistic view of the world. By surrendering to a higher power, you accept the greater context around what happens in your life and the world around you. You release your belief that everything has to do with you and that you are in complete control. This is not a passive act. It involves working in favor of things that you surrender to and accepting that results of your actions are not in your control. That looks like continuing to learn and give and write and tech and not looking for anything in return.

I’m constantly overwhelmed by the world. I have been for years and years, with varying levels of success. And in those times, I have to surrender my mind to something. Lately, I’ve been surrendering to the wrong powers, like my impulses to ignore everything in favor of TV or social media and an addiction to news media.      Instead of zooming out, I’ve simply been looking away. I want to surrender to my higher power, not just to God, but to how I see God manifesting in the world. That is, I want to surrender to my belief in the inherent goodness in people. I want to surrender to the power of the activists who have been working towards progress for years and years. I want to surrender to a brighter future I know is just beyond the horizon. 

The fight against systemic racism continues. With each day, we move closer to a more equitable world. Reminders:
 

Ways you can help  

Anti-racism resources

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Faithfully,
Nikhil