Cindy Lets Go

Cindy Sheehan let go her cause this Memorial Day weekend, and the pundits and their commenters are all aquiver over it. Reading the comments on The Swamp, The Chicago Tribune’s Washington Bureau left me feeling alternatively proud, angry, hurt, glad, sad, disgusted.

Do you remember who she is? She’s mother who lost her son in Iraq and felt that she had to DO SOMETHING to make it clear to our government that she did not condone the cause for which her son gave his life. She made camp outside the ranch of George W. Bush. She’s been camping for two years.

This weekend, Cindy decided that she’d had enough and she let it go. What pushed her over the edge was Democrats calling her the same mean-spirited names that the Republicans have been calling her. At least that’s what she says. My take is a little different.

Bless her heart, Cindy has spent two years of her life AGAINST the war. Being against anything (even as your car brakes are “against” your tires) takes energy. After a while, it’s exhausting to be against things. Cindy’s been against the war for long enough.

Bless her heart even more, Cindy’s been in the public eye for two years. Two years! During which she has been lauded and lambasted, admired and admonished, rewarded and reworded.

Her time in the public eye is over. She hung up her protest badge. Cindy let go.

What happens now? It’s anyone’s guess. For Cindy, my thought is that she’ll reconstruct a new life for herself and her family. She’ll heal from the loss of her son to the degree that she can. She’ll make dinner. She’ll go to church. She’ll figure out what she's for.

For our country and the effort that Cindy Sheehan made? It’s anyone’s guess. One thing I know is this: Cindy’s letting go makes a space for something new to happen. Something brand new, spanking clean and surprising.

You will recall that letting go is a part of the creative process. The Last Step. Cindy let go her protest. Now, dig deep inside yourself. Are you called to pick it up? Let go with her? Set it down? Do something new? Do it, whatever it is.

Letting go is a good sign—usually, it precedes healing.

P.S. Bless you, Cindy Sheehan! May God/dess heal your heart and our world.