EMAIL DEVOTIONAL EPIPHANY 7
‘Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may. (Job 13:13)
I’m a little empty at the moment. Have you ever had one of those days … or evening, in my case? Moments when your well feels a little dry? I’m sort of there tonight as I have been striving to write this week’s devotion. I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say that I have had a number of days strung together with experiences that drained me. Most were great, a few were not, but each of them emptied drained my spirit a bit. And thus my energy seems to be set on low for the night, and my screen sits empty in front of me. So we’re gonna go with this experience of emptiness.
It is not typically a comfortable place to be, at least for me. But it got me thinking about the things we can we learn from these moments of emptiness. Since I tend to fill my times of emptiness with words and music, I’m not very experienced in learning from these moments in life. So I sought out an expert, and found this quote from an ancient Chinese mystic, Lao Tzu … “Become totally empty. Quiet the restlessness of the mind. Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness.” I’m not there yet … let’s just say that. I have a ways to go in terms of finding inspiration and motivation from my emptiness.
And maybe that is my revelatory moment this week. Maybe that is the irony that torments me. The fact that the very thing (silence) which might enliven my heart to new understandings, is the very thing that eludes me. Being silent has never been the sharpest tool in my faith toolbox. And so I have never cultivated it in ways that allow it to be a resource for me. I pray that some of you have been more successful than me.
So in your thoughts and prayers this week, consider the gift of silence … the practice of silence … the calling of silence. See if you can find yourself comfortable with it, and if so, what it teaches you. I will try to do the same. And so now … I will just be quiet … and let your silence lead you … and let my silence lead me.
