An empty cup...It is very different, journaling from a cheap motel room (there was a tournament in town) and the comfort of my living room. At home, I always have my music, candle, and a full cup or flavored coffee as I reflect on a day's reading.
An empty cup.
It is appropriate this morning. I'm waiting until it is time to meet the others. In the meantime, I truly do have an empty cup. No music or candle. And, no flavored coffee...
It is just me, and while a moment ago I was wishing for more, I think this may be a gift on this particular day.
Joyce shares that there is a part of her that always wants to be full. There is a part of her that wants to feel good, to have life go well. Yes, that is me. I have wanted this day of voting....to just go away! I have wanted this day of high emotions...to pass silently.
Yet, here it is...and if I had my hot cup of flavored coffee, I suspect I would be using it to buffer myself in some way. I would think about the taste. I would think about how it feels as it slides down my throat. I would notice how nice it is to hold a warm cup between my hands...
Instead, I've got nothin.
I am an empty cup that is noticing a sense of peace filling up my heart.
I have written about noticing God everywhere...in all people. Sometimes that is really hard, yet today, from this place of peace, I hope to do a better job than I might have done by first numbing myself with "things that offer comfort."
Many years ago I went to hear a great spiritual teacher speak. I stood outside waiting to go in and I remember being struck by a strange calmness. You know how sometimes it feels as though you could "slice the tension with a knife"? That is the way this was, only I did not want to slice it....I wanted to just feel it...sink into it.
I do not remember a single thing that was said that day, but I have never forgotten that intense feeling of peace. Perhaps that is one gift I can bring to the gathering today. As I offer peace, perhaps someone else, once experiencing that peace might offer peace, and when someone...
Breathprayer:
Breathing in: Filling up......
Breathing out:......emptying out
Reflection:
...Look into the emptiness
Abide in the emptiness
Do not attempt to fill it with insights or feelings
Open the door to your heart
Go inside and be with God
I have to leave now, and I am not leaving alone.
Once again, this blog, though time consuming, has been a gift. I would not have spent the time with today's reading if it were not for this blog. I would have stayed in bed for another hour...
And I would have missed the wisdom within today's reflection.
God, help me abide in the emptiness today without filling it with ah-has from other voices...from speakers. God, help me to check the thoughts that give rise to feelings...so that I might remain empty. I like the image of opening the door to my heart and "me" going in to be with you. You are already there, waiting, if I open the door and go in. God...may I be present with you during this day. AMEN.
Many Blessings ~ Sandi
"Yet, I know that a cup that is always full does not have room to receive. It does not have space to contain anything more than what it already has. Likewise, a cup that is never used or shared will grow stale and tasteless." - p. 52
ReplyDeleteThis passage hit home. I need to be emptied, so that I may be filled with the Spirit. I need to breathe in and breathe out. I need to be emptied of self and filled with Christ. Lord, help me to leave all of me at the foot of the cross, for I know that I do not need to carry around all the baggage; you will give me what I need for each leg of my journey. Amen.