So much for empty space!

So we begin the season of Lent.

Forty days in the wilderness does not need to be a hardship.

If we let go of something, we then leave an empty space.

We can either let this space remain empty or fill it with our favorite things.
I like the idea of making empty spaces in my day.
I can linger at the window and watch the wind whip up the scant snow that fills our little wilderness below.

I can drink in words I wrote in my journal about this time last year.
Or, I can simply sit by the fire and sip a nice hot cup of tea.

When I have done enough of that, I do seem to gravitate toward 'doing'... at least reflecting.  I am not much for leaving my 'head-space' empty ... although that is not a bad idea ... to stare blankly at nothing for awhile.
It's refreshing.





Yet, I still like my piles.  They seem to surround me.
 I like to fill empty spaces with things I love ... like my journals.
 I have several and want to fill each of them differently.
 Thoughts, wonderings, pictures, prayers, insights . . .
 Look at this mess!
  My eye catches what I want to see and lets go of the rest.

My journal for the book of Acts that I teach.
The Book of Common Prayer helps me with a lenten devotional.
My other journal fills up with words that flow from my mind after reading scripture.
Everything jumbled on top of mail and articles I "must-read-soon." 

I gravitate away from my studies.  Ahhhh, time for a delicious book to melt away the hours of cold wind that batter the eves of our house.

"Abba" and "The Fruit of the Spirit" are annual reads.
Tiny books packed with powerful thoughts.

Piles of books.  Most are not yet read and await completion during these winter months.  The little books on top are re-reads that I pull out each Lent.
It takes me nearly all of the forty days to chew on the words inside.

I linger too long at the window.

  I sip my tea slowly.  

One of these days I will finish this pile. 

 I WILL empty this space . . .  only to fill it again with more to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.

So much for empty spaces.