"You are now running on reserve power and your screen has been dimmed. Please plug in your power adapter to begin recharging the battery. OK?" - Message from an Apple Computer.
Kinda says it all doesn't it? We get to a point in our life where we have got to recharge. There is just no way around it. Some, who ignore the message, will find themselves in the hospital, undergoing forced recharging. It's slow, often painful and costs plenty.
So why don't we heed the messages? For me, there's a part of me that thinks, if I can just keep moving, pushing through, I'll get it all done. It's a lie, straight from the great lier of all times. But I find that I listen, then I find that my reserve power is running low.
My Mini is the same way, she has a reserve light with sound that goes off when the fuel is getting low. Granted, we can go another 70 miles, which ends up being about a week, on that amount of gas. The point being, someone better be listening to the message.
I challenge you today to allow yourself to be refilled, in whatever way that looks like for you. It will need to be purposeful, intentional and kind.
I've been somewhat sick for about a week. It's hard for me to be sick, I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about, so let me explain! I have stuff to do... important stuff to do! I get paid for a few of these things that I do, but mainly it's just stuff, my stuff. Working out is a good example of some of my stuff, blogging is another. Anyway, all I've been able to do for a week is sit around and try to breath! OK, your right, I did work the Arkansas Flower and Garden show last week, went to dinner with my parents for my birthday, rang handbells in church, got my hair done, had spiritual direction, went to vision cafe, centering prayer and got finger printed for concealed hand gun license. Maybe if I had sat around and tried to breath I would have gotten well sooner, you think?
We are afraid of emptiness. Flat out scared to have space in our lives! This, that I just shared with you, is a perfect example of how fearful we are of empty space! We like to occupy-fill up-every empty time and space that we might have in our life. Look at your calendar if you think I'm making this up! We have filled our empty spaces before we even get to them!
I'm going on a silent directed retreat this weekend at the beloved St. Scholastica, where I will try to allow emptiness to exist in my life. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance.
God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God's actions in our lives, it's unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God.
Come Lord Jesus, and fill our emptiness with you.
"You are now running on reserve power and your screen has been dimmed. Please plug in your power adapter to begin recharging the battery. OK?" - Message from an Apple Computer.
