Self-Emptying

We can't be useful unless we are empty. – Br. Aiden, Diocesan Clergy Retreat

The diocese held a clergy retreat at Claggett Center this past Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning. It was good to get away, meet up with some clergy friends, share stories, and listen to our guest speaker. As a side note, I also won 6 out of 7 pool games, so that was fun!

Brother Aiden is a monk at the Holy Cross Monastery in upstate New York and he gave three presentations that touched on the general topic of holy presence. In one of the presentations he made the above statement. I'm sure that at some point or another you have heard something along the lines of, “emptying ourselves for God.”

That statement can, however, be taken to a negative extreme. It could be seen as a call to continually give of ourselves, emptying ourselves, until we reach the point where we have nothing left to give. This could be clergy who are bad at self-care. It could be teachers who run up against a system that continually requires them to give while not giving anything in return. Or it could be any other vocation that is based on service and care.

Brother Aiden pointed something out that helped me see this in a new way.

When we empty ourselves, we are removing things that we have used to fill us up that are in place of who God is asking us to be. We empty ourselves of the things, attitudes, desires, and/or other aspects of life that get in the way of living as God asks us to live.

It is through that emptying that we find God can fill our now empty space with a new direction, a new desire, a new interest, or a new insight to an old way of doing things.

Emptying ourselves for God doesn't mean burning out or going until we can't go anymore. Instead, think of emptying yourself for God as the spiritual discipline that allows you to get out of God's way so that your self-emptiness is now useful for God, and that usefulness is being holy (and wholly) present.

Blessings,

Todd+