Tuesday, September 22

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
—Isaiah 55:2

We give ourselves to many things that promise more than they deliver. That makes us easy prey for marketers who try to convince us that what they have to sell is exactly what will make our lives easier, more meaningful, even perfect. We are not stupid, however. We know that what they offer is not everything that they say it is. Yet still, we will spend our money on it.

It's not really the hard cash that is so important. It's that the hard
cash is a reflection of our life's time and energy. We let that life time
and energy splay out all over the place just in order to obtain what we fleetingly hope might give more than we know it can. We give up whole handfuls of life to that which doesn't even begin to bring us fulfillment or satisfaction.

Then, sometimes gradually, sometimes in the flash of an instant, we wake up. We wake up to the situation we are in. We wake up to
our own life. We wake up to God. We  begin to feel the emptiness inside and cast about looking for what will truly fill that emptiness with meaning.

As we pay attention to the hunger within our soul, we notice a desire for what cannot be bought or sold, traded or marketed. A longing to be filled by the Holy One. We may not be able to articulate what we feel, but we know we must have it if we are to reach our full potential as human beings. 

It is then that the marketers no longer have power over us. We
have broken free of all imitations; we have begun the search for that which is real.

Gracious God, when pockets of emptiness appear in my soul, let me open myself for the filling of your Spirit.