Daily Meditation for December 11, 2025

There’s wisdom in letting go — of grudges, threadbare opinions, excess baggage, harmful relationships. But letting go too easily and carelessly may be one of the sicknesses of our age. Some of us shed jobs and friends, marriages and homes, countries and even this Earth, always eager for the next adventure. We’re unhampered by commitment or the bonds forged over time by shared striving. How can we learn to love a piece of this Earth if we don’t stick around long enough to learn its seasons, moods and secrets? Theorist Malcolm Gladwell says that if you do anything for 10,000 hours, you’ll get good at it. It may not take that long, but it’s hard to imagine becoming a good teacher, parent, musician, surgeon or friend without long, patient hours of practice. As the joyous feasts of this season remind us, God never lets go of a single person or a single atom of creation. Loving us into being, God loves us to the end.

By Mara Faulkner, OSB