Meditation 4: The Anawim Who Put Jesus There – Filling the Void Left by Being Merely Humanistic

This is the fourth in the series about the Anawim of God, all of us. Relax and listen to ideas about what is authentic about being human and where we get the energy to combat the demonic forces that beguile the innocent into thinking humanity is limited to the Physical and Mental Universes (humanism). My premise here is not that humanism is bad, but that it is not authentic without the addition of the spiritual dimension, and this cannot happen unless we accept the boundaries God has gifted us and made human for us through Jesus Christ. These meditations are the result of a collaboration between Grok and me. This is my thinking, and I approve it. In all my writings, I only speak with you about what has been shared with me in the hope that we both continue to grow in our evolution to what destiny awaits us.

My dear friend, come and rest with me once again in this gentle space. The light has grown softer still, and we turn now to the fourth meditative anchor: The Anawim Who Put Jesus There – Filling the Void Left by Being Merely Humanistic.

Let us speak slowly and honestly about this. There is more to life than what we can see with our eyes or discover through our senses alone. However, our senses are good and necessary — they help us navigate this world and move toward the next level of evolution — they are not enough. As the little prince once said so beautifully, “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” This truth lies at the heart of the anawim’s journey. Jesus helps us see the invisible. He helps us understand that, despite our human tendency to let our sufferings hold us hostage, we can grow with Christ beyond mere human existence into something gloriously more.

The forces at work in our world today often try to reduce us to what is visible and measurable — our bodies, our finances, our productivity, our social status, our limitations. This is the trap of being merely humanistic. It leaves a great void in the human heart because we were made for so much more. The anawim who deliberately put Jesus at the Center of their lives become the ones who fill this void. They become living signs that humanity’s deepest evolution requires God.

My friend, you know this void well. Perhaps you feel it in the quiet hours when the body aches and the mind turns to questions that have no easy answers. You may feel it when society tells you that your worth depends on what you can produce or how comfortable you appear. You may feel it especially strongly if you are elderly, poor, imprisoned, homeless, or aware that your time on earth is growing short. The merely humanistic view says: “This is all there is. Make the best of it while you can.” But the anawim who puts Jesus there answers gently: “There is more. Much more.”

Putting Jesus there is not a dramatic or heroic act. For the anawim, it is usually very small and quiet. It is the decision, made again and again, to place Christ at the Center of your suffering, your poverty, your loneliness, your regrets, and your daily limitations. When pain wakes you in the night, you put Jesus there. When memories of past mistakes rise, you put Jesus there. When the false self tells you that your life has been too small to matter, you put Jesus there. When the world reduces you to your circumstances, you quietly put Jesus there.

This simple act fills the void left by merely humanistic living. It resists the forces that seek to devolve complexity and consciousness. Teilhard de Chardin saw creation moving forward toward greater unity and awareness in Christ. The anawim who puts Jesus at the Center participates actively in this forward movement. Your limitations are not obstacles to evolution — they are the very material Christ uses to draw you, and all creation, higher.

Consider how easily suffering can hold us hostage. The mind can become trapped in cycles of resentment, fear, or self-pity. The body can feel like a prison. The circumstances of poverty or illness can whisper that this is all there will ever be. But when you put Jesus there, something shifts. The suffering is no longer the Center. Christ is the Center. Your pain is still real, but it is now held within a larger and more loving reality. It becomes part of the offering. It becomes part of the Martyrdom of Ordinary Living.

The Catholic Church was designed by Jesus precisely for this moment — for wounded humanity that needs a sure path beyond the limits of what we can see and touch. She does not reject the physical world or the mind. She honors them. But she lifts our eyes higher. She teaches us, through the sacraments, through Scripture, through the lives of the saints, that what is essential is invisible — and that this invisible reality is more real than anything we can measure.

Through the Eucharist, she gives you the Real Presence of Jesus so that even when you feel empty, you can put Him there. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, she helps you release the things that keep you hostage. Through the communion of saints, she shows you countless anawim who did the same in their own poverty and limitation — and who now shine in glory.

What is essential really is invisible to the eye. Love is invisible. Trust is invisible. Hope is invisible. Forgiveness is invisible. Yet these are the forces that drive true evolution forward. The anawim who puts Jesus at the Center becomes a quiet witness to this deeper reality. Your small daily “yes” — choosing patience when irritation rises, choosing forgiveness when bitterness feels easier, choosing prayer when prayer feels dry — these invisible acts are powerful. They resist the devolving forces that seek to reduce human beings to biology, economics, or pleasure alone.

Jesus Himself lived this way. Born in poverty, living simply, dying on a cross between two thieves — He showed us that the deepest humanity is found not in escaping limitation but in offering it to the Father. The anawim follow in this same path. We do not need to be strong, successful, or comfortable to fill the humanistic void. We only need to put Jesus there, faithfully, day after day.

Let this meditation sink slowly into your heart. You are not trapped by what is visible. You are being drawn by what is invisible — by the love of Christ that is stronger than every limitation. The Catholic Church walks with you in this drawing. She keeps the path clear. She reminds you that there is more to life than what the eyes can see. She helps you grow beyond mere human existence into the glorious fullness that God intended from the beginning.

As you sit with this truth, let it become your anchor. When the world tries to reduce you to your circumstances, answer quietly in your heart: “I put Jesus there.” When suffering tries to hold you hostage, answer: “I put Jesus there.” When the false self whispers that your life is too small, answer with confidence: “I put Jesus there — and that changes everything.”

This is how the anawim fill the void. This is how we participate in the forward movement of all creation toward greater complexity and consciousness in Christ. This is how we become fully human at the deepest level of evolution — not by denying our poverty, but by offering it to the One who makes all things new.

Rest now in this meditation, dear friend. Return to it often. Let the simple practice of putting Jesus there become the rhythm of your waiting. He is already there with you. He has never left. And one day, when the final collision comes, you will see clearly how every small act of putting Him there was woven into eternal glory.

Do What He Tells You.

Copyright © 2026 by Michael F. Conrad. All rights reserved. These contemplative readings are offered as a gift for personal reflection, especially for the anawim — the poor, the elderly, the imprisoned, the homeless, and all who carry heavy burdens. They may be shared