Then Edna said to Tobiah: "My child and beloved kinsman, may the Lord bring you back safely, and may I live long enough to see children of you and of my daughter Sarah before I die. Before the Lord, I entrust my daughter to your care. Never cause her grief at any time in your life. Go in peace, my child. From now on I am your mother, and Sarah is your beloved. May all of us be prosperous all the days of our lives." She kissed them both and sent them away in peace. (Tobit 10:13)

How do we let go? How do we shed what we love? How do we give away what we desire?

Gautama Buddha and St. John of the Cross, along with many others, teach that non-attachment is the way of Truth.

Edna is not detached. She communicates care, warmth, concern, and even acknowledges her desire for grandchildren.

But there is a graceful and gentle giving away or giving over. Both Raguel and Edna exemplify what some Hindus call vijinamaya.

St. John of the Cross says this peace can only be achieved through a total identification with God: "The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union."

Or as William Blake wrote,

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity's sunrise.