The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
FILLING HOLES, FILLING TIME, FILLING SPACE
As I usually do every morning, I turn on the computer and watch ESPN or one of the variations of Fox Sports. I stay away from major network news, Fox News, etc… because of the hatred, negativity, false or misleading information, and mainly I am tired of people mistrusting one another. The sports program I was watching had a commercial whose premise was: We need something to believe in. The natural conclusion was that Sports is a diversion, filling the void of a bored individual in the home. We all need purpose and the power that comes from knowing that my life is not without meaning.
Even sports programs get boring. How many reruns of basketball, football, and baseball can you stand? Is this what will make us happy and fill the hole in our lives that causes boredom and anxiety? When someone loses a lifetime partner, that is a real hole, not an inconvenience. When the holes in our lives get too much for us to handle, we have options to choose. Remember, God gave us reason for a reason and the ability to choose what is good for us or, conversely, what is bad for us. Here are some options or fillers.
Alcohol, drugs and orgiastic sex: One of my favorite authors is Erich Fromm whose book, The Art of Loving, inspired me to ask the question: What is love? His premise is that we humans must learn to love. It is not infused in our DNA. This comes with the freedom to choose what is good for us, or even those things that are bad for us but we select them anyway. Some of his quotes from http://www.azquotes.com
- “It takes a moment to tell someone you love them, but it takes a lifetime to prove it.” ~ Erich Fromm
- “To love somebody is not just a strong feeling – it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise.” ~ Erich Fromm
- “Love isn’t something natural. Rather it requires discipline, concentration, patience, faith, and the overcoming of narcissism. It isn’t a feeling, it is a practice.” ~ Erich Fromm
I bring up Erich Fromm as one who tells us what love will fill our holes and what will not (alcohol, drugs, and orgiastic sex). Fromm’s use of love is a great insight into human nature and the deepest, more intimate emotion we have. It is, however, only what the World thinks of love (physical and mental universe only).
FILLING THE HOLE WITH CHRIST True love comes when we build on our human nature with what Christ came to tell us. He has loved us first. (Philippians 2:5-12) If God is not the builder of the house, we labor in vain who build it. This is the temple of the Holy Spirit. There is someone out there who can make the rough ways smooth and the crooked ways straight. It takes Faith to take a shovel and fill your hole with Christ. It doesn’t cost anything in terms of money, but it will take everyTHING you have.
CONTEMPLATION — Understood properly, contemplation of Christ must be with no strings attached, just unconditional love, like sitting on a park bench in the midst of a cold winter and waiting, longing for Christ to sit next to you, Someone asked me, “But Christ is always with us.” I responded, “Of course he is, but you are not always with Him. In silence and solitude, seek God without human conditions.”
With what will you fill the hole left by the Coronavirus 19?
uiodg
The Center for contemplative practice 