Feb. 28, 2011 Monday: Letting go of our fear of God
Letting Go of Our Fear of God
We are afraid of emptiness. Spinoza speaks about our "horror
vacui," our horrendous fear of vacancy. We like to
occupy-fill up-every empty time and space. We want to be
occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become
preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we
have even reached them. We fill them with our worries,
saying, "But what if ..."
It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives.
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 is unlikely
that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let's pray that we
can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source
of all love.
-Henri Nouwen
We are afraid of emptiness. Spinoza speaks about our "horror
vacui," our horrendous fear of vacancy. We like to
occupy-fill up-every empty time and space. We want to be
occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become
preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we
have even reached them. We fill them with our worries,
saying, "But what if ..."
It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives.
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 is unlikely
that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let's pray that we
can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source
of all love.
-Henri Nouwen
