Empty

We’ve been packing. We have not budged from our home in over 27 years but now we are moving. Can you even imagine what we’ve accrued in all that time? Do you know what it is like to sift through just one drawer around here? Can you even imagine a whole attic full of things?

I recently sent my three grown children this actual text, “Last call if anyone wants your baby teeth.” Strangely, there were no takers and yes, I actually still had every tooth that fell out of their heads a couple of decades ago. For those of you who still believe, the tooth fairy let me keep them. She and I were close.

Now, as we are down to the last weeks of our sprint out of here, I’ve started labeling what has already been completely cleared with yellow post it notes, that read “Empty.” I was getting tired of wasting time opening and closing closets, drawers and cabinets only to discover they were already empty.

It’s strange being surrounded by empty after all these years of full.

This week, I started a new book week by Thomas Moore called The Eloquence of Silence. The less silence I have in my life, the more I’m drawn to it. The title alone led me to the book purchase. Only later did I read the subtitle: Surprising Wisdom in Tales of Emptiness.

Sitting in this mostly packed up house, surrounded by Post It notes declaring empty spaces, hearing our voices echo off the empty walls, it seems God wants to teach me about the spiritual power of emptiness.

The back cover of my new book reads: Embracing emptiness, staying open, finding calm. With compassion and insight, Thomas Moore offers a compelling case for an easier, lighter way of moving through life by experiencing the peace, calm and openness of emptiness. …our constant multitasking may not be getting us anywhere. Emptiness is not a lack but an invitation….

Moore writes, Emptiness is not a popular idea in modern life, which wants to fill any sign of ignorance with information and to stuff the world with new products. Emptying seems useless and counterproductive.

What if we are wrong with all our filling of space with stuff and words and activity? What if emptying is what is called for? What if space is needed?

Richard Rohr wrote for another devotional I read today that God’s Holy Spirit fills the gaps of everything, like a breath of fresh air, filling our lungs. (Daily Devotional by Richard Rohr from the Center for Action and Contemplation, 5-28-23)

How is it with your soul, your life? Do you need to empty a drawer, a cabinet, your schedule, your thoughts in order to make space for something new? Is God stirring around you to encourage you toward emptiness so you can be filled with a new breath?

I just need to read the little Post It notes in my own home, empty, empty, empty.

Dr. Cindy Ryan is a pastor, wife, mother of three, breast cancer survivor and Mosa to Keller, Pace, River and one on the way. To read more blogs, sign up for Cindy’s Inner Circle or to see upcoming speaking events, go to http://www.drcindyryanblog.com.