Young Professionals Discuss Letting Go

Gathering in the basement bar of Molly Maguire's in Clark on Tuesday night, young professionals from the St. Helen's Roman Catholic Church Theology on Tap group heard writer and editor Mary Regina Morrell talk about a recent experience of not being able to let go.

Morrell talked about how her husband's work van caught fire for the fifth time last year. The fire occurred at a Middlesex County gas station and luckily was put out before a catastrophe occurred. Following the fire, Morrell thought she had convinced her husband to let go of the van, arguing that five fires was a sign. Coming home from work, expecting to go shopping for a new van, Morrell was stunned to see the same van sitting in the driveway, with her husband saying that he got it repaired and it wasn't expected to catch fire again.

Morrell told the story to bring home her point of how tough it is to let go, but how letting go is necessary to move on at times. She recounted several personal experiences during the course of the program, which drew around 30 young professionals. She talked about how letting go was needed to move on to a new job, a new city, a new relationship or a new religious experience.

The Theology on Tap program provides young professionals the chance to discuss religious issues in a casual context at a local bar. A national program, St. Helen's has been hosting speakers since last year on a variety of religious topics.

Following Morrell's presentation, small groups discussed the topic using a variety of discussion questions, which allowed for the young professionals to discuss how letting go can be a positive thing. Many talked about letting go in terms of moving on after college graduation or moving from one job to another. They discussed how it was positive to let go because they could try a new adventure and move to a new stage in life, but how it was hard to have to make the step of letting go a known part of their life for the unknown. While the setting may have been a casual private room of a bar on a busy street in the middle of Clark, the discussions were anything but casual.

Morrell centered much of her talk about her own battle against depression in recent years and how she needed to let go of things in order to move forward and overcome the struggle. She noted how her battle with depression had her working to reclaim her life and how the young professionals gathered were using the program to take possession of something in their lives.

"You're trying to make your faith your own," she said.