For years now, I have reflected deeply on the word ‘Abandonment.’ This can be a difficult word to understand when it comes to our relationship with God.
Luckily, there is a wonderful book, Abandonment to Divine Providence, by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, that can serve as a guide to understanding this sometimes-difficult theology.
There is a shorter version of this text, which includes just the principal work. But you can also find a longer version which includes Caussade's letters of spiritual direction to a group of nuns for whom he served as a spiritual father and guide. They are very powerful for personal use.
The main text talks about how we need to give over all our concerns and anxiety to God. We just need to accept that our Father, our Creator, did not make us to live in fear or doubt.
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
But what is this word Abandonment? Some think it only means that if we give up all our wants and desires, or if we practice complete detachment, then we will be happy. If this were the case, then perhaps we should all just be living as hermits. (Don't get me wrong, some are called to live as hermits, and we may even envy them some days, especially on really tough days.)
But God does not say we cannot have the good things of this world. He does, however, ask that we put everything in proper order, and that we place Him above all our desires. Nothing should ever become more important to us than our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Indeed, everything in our lives should serve to lead us deeper into our relationship with God our Father. This must hold true for our family, friends, work, recreation and our material goods. If any of these come before our relationship with God, or in any way detract from it, we will need to work to reconcile that detraction.
Now some, on the other hand, think abandonment means that we just take an “I don't care attitude” toward the things in our life. This is like a subtle form of stoicism where we cast all our cares away and say to ourselves, “Oh, God will take care of it.” This is not what we are called to do in the practice of Abandonment. We are asked to have faith, but we are also asked to accept God's will in all things. Sometimes that can be difficult, as often the difficulties and trials in our life may not make sense to us. But, ironically, that is where our faith really grows. Either way, just casting our cares to the wind is not divine abandonment.
True Abandonment to Divine Providence is more like what a person observes when they watch a child run and jump into his or her parent’s arms. A wonderful example of this is St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a French Carmelite who is best remembered for her teaching on spiritual childhood, or what she called her “little way.” St. Thérèse abandoned herself to God like a little child who hides in her Father's arms. This is not a “childish” spirituality, but actually a very mature and very profound holiness. She understood and lived out the principle our Lord explained to us as the need to adopt a childlike confidence in God and become totally dependent on Him as a Father.
“And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:3)
Can we say that we really have this attitude about our own relationship with God? Can we look with the eyes of a child and believe that, even though we may need to be corrected from time to time, our heavenly Father will never leave us, no matter how dark the clouds might get at times?
It might seem that this is harder to do if we are grown or are even a somewhat older person. But the truth is, those of us who have experienced some of life's hard lessons have come to learn that we really, truly are dependent on God, as his little children. The only question then, is whether we will have the courage and faith to abandon everything into the arms of our heavenly Father.
Copyright © 2025, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit:"Jésus et le petit enfant (Jesus and the Little Child)," James Tissot (Brooklyn Museum), Public domain, via WikiArt