Filling Holes

Holes beg to be filled.  I remember how, in years past, old tires and discarded refrigerators were routinely dumped in forest ravines - a way to fill space.

When challenges and losses dig into personal expectations to create holes, various fillers often show up: cell phone mania, television or internet diversion, recreational shopping or eating, workaholism, you name it.  Over time, growing potholes can erode to become massive inner chasms that scream for even more hyper-stimulation and over-stuffing.

Here’s the truth.  When my heart is still - and when I am reverent and worshipful - I have fewer holes, and existing ones heal. This is both tangible reality and divine mystery.

Respect.  Wonder.  Awe. Tenderness. Love.  Deference. Stillness.  Such hole-fillers cannot be taught, but rather are recovered by divine grace.

In our 21^st century world, gaping craters of neglect, crime, scandal, abuse, and terror can preoccupy us and magnify our own personal holes. We do well to respond with deep, genuine reverence and spiritual longing for God, knowing He alone can fill us.