You can see it in the changing of the seasons, falling leaves and new blooms, and the setting and rising of the sun. For every choice we make, every yes we say, there is at least one no and probably many. What are the costs, the losses, you paid for an education or a career? You chose certain losses and let go of some things so that other things could arise. Have you ever been the caretaker of another? If so, you could name the parts of your life that died so that another might live with dignity, compassion, and love. Parents are continually letting go of their child so she or he can grow up. We give up parts of ourselves for the other. How about parenting? If you are a parent you know that there are sacrifices of yourself and your life to be made in order for the new life of your child to emerge and grow. Have you ever fallen in love and committed your life to another? If so, you had to let parts of your old life go and something of your single life died so that you could be with that other person. Look at the way this pattern is present in your life. Even if you’ve never thought of this as the secret to life, you’ve lived and experienced it, sometimes by choice and other times by chance. It’s the pattern of loss and renewal that runs throughout our lives and our world. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). By Go2anna – Own work, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons It’s also one of those secrets that can trouble the soul, so we often turn away from it or close our eyes to it. It’s one of those secrets hidden in plain sight.

It’s something you’ve seen and experienced over and over. You probably already know what I am going to tell you, though you may not have thought of it as the secret to life. Today I am going to tell you the secret to life.

Sermon on the plain clip art