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Scripture~Psalm 114.7-8 (AT)
In the Presence of the Supreme One, tremble, earth,
in the Presence of the Eternal One of Jacob,
the One turning the rock into a pool of water,
the stony rock into a spring sprightly with water.
Quote
The Grace of God has found space in my life in the empty, hollowed-out spaces in my heart, not in the parts of my life that I have managed to fill up with my own "achievements." The fountains of God's love have become real and effective where my own defenses broke down. My breakdowns became God's breakthroughs.
*Margaret Silf, Lighted Windows
Comments
Christmas bears the message of the centrality of emptiness in the contemplative life. This life is none other than cooperating with the Holy Spirit to form within us a vacancy.
This vacancy, however, is not a mere negation of something. This hollowness is the field for the seed of Spiritual Love, Joy, and Peace. The arid waiting becomes a watery womb of promise.
The emptinesses of Christmas challenges us to trusts the possibilities in fecund emptiness. The empty womb of the virgin becomes the field for the planting of the Seed of the Word. The emptiness of the sleep of Joseph allows room for the message of the Angel not to abandon his engaged love Mary. The emptiness of the inn necessitates movement to the manger. The emptiness of the feed trough becomes the cradle for the One Who fills all Creation.
What is this message of emptiness to us? We grow deeply into the experience of Christ by cooperating with the Holy Spirit to detach us from that which is less than the Will of God for us. I will proceed to a personal example.
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Seven years ago I underwent divorce. I had married someone whom I now know was not within the Will of God for me. I have accepted that such a choice was my fault, and I have no one else to blame. I have spent time in confession for the hurt this brought to my wife, myself, and our families. I feel much peace in accepting that I am forgiven, and I know God has led me through a period of healing and freedom from that error. A lesson the Holy Spirit led me deeper into me through this loss is that we often fill up the space where God wills to give us what is best for us with our own less-than-best~often, less-than-good~choices. We rush into choices, filling up the space, for we so desperately want to know the filling of that emptiness.
However, emptiness does not have to be a negative experience. The Psalm 114 passage alludes to God providing water for the thirsty Hebrew tribes in the Wilderness Wandering. The allusion says to us, "This is the Nature of the Divine." The Spirit sees in the rock, which seems shut off to becoming a source of water, a flowing stream to quench thirst. Likewise, we can rejoice in the emptiness we might undergo. With eyes of faith, we can assure ourselves that from the barren soil will sprout and grow the Divine Will. We can be certain that what will grow, through our faithful patience, is not only what is good for us but what is best for us.
Suggested Reflections
1) Do you recall times when the Holy Spirit led you to something best for you after you had erred making a choice that was not best for you?
2) Is there an empty place in your life presently? What is your present experience of that emptiness?
3) Do you have a friend or family member who needs your encouragement to wait patiently for the filling up of an empty place in his or her life?
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