Only what is emptied can then be refilled.  When of my own will and choice I am emptied, by handing back my own will, my gifts, my thinking to God, it gives him space which he can re-fill.

It's hard, really hard, to become convinced of this because our general experience of loss is pain.  And we are taught at all costs to avoid pain.

On the cross Jesus deliberately gave back, emptied himself of everything he had.  He lost his control over his own actions, his few possessions, his body, his reputation, his friends, his God, his life.  And that space was refilled by God with the redemption of the whole world.

Just for a few moments each day I take on that degree of powerlessness of which I am capable.  Journeying to that still pool where it is okay to be still; it's okay to be me;  okay to give over control;  okay to contact the child and the clown in me.  It is important to clear the channel for God to flow in the way only he knows.  That means clearing away for a few minutes the very things we prize.  Even our gifts, the very things we have worked at, can be at times rocks in the path of the smooth flow of the living water.

Wanda Nash

An extract from ‘Turning the Downside Up - Growing in Unexpected Places‟ HarperCollins Publishing 1995

Wanda was a much valued contributor to and supporter of The Julian Meetings.  Sadly she died a few years ago and is greatly missed.