“Die to Self”
SCRIPTURE
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. —John 12:24-25
DEVOTIONAL
There was once a woman who set out to discover the meaning of life. First, she read everything she could get her hands on – history, philosophy, psychology, religion. While she learned a lot, it wasn’t enough. She went to lectures and met with important people to have long conversations, but she still wasn’t satisfied. So she put all of her possessions in storage and went to far off places to follow her quest. She went to Africa, India, South America. Along the way, she heard about a man who could help her. She was told that he lived far into the Himalayas, up on the side of a mountain.
She mapped her route, packed her gear, and started out. Her walk turned to a hike that turned into a climb. She clawed her way to the top of a ridge to a small hut. She knocked on the door and gentle man opened it. Exhausted, she told him, “I have heard of you, trekked halfway around the world, climbed up this mountain to find you so that I can ask you one question…What is the meaning of life?” The man smiled and invited her in, “Please come in and have some tea.” She resisted. “I don’t want tea. I need an answer.” He slowly backed up to give her room. She gave up, went in, and sat down.
As he put a pot of water on the fire, the woman started to tell him about all that she read, the people she met, the places she had been. The man placed a cup in her hand as the water started to boil. “I have learned from the gurus, read sacred texts, taken workshops….” she continued, as he started to pour. She was so busy talking that she didn’t notice that the man kept pouring the hot water, until it rolled over the edge of the cup and spilled on her. “Ouch!” she pulled back as the hot water scorched her hand, “What are you doing? It’s full, can’t you see that? Stop! There’s no more room!”
“So it is,” the man told her, “Your cup is too full. You’ve come here wanting something from me, but what am I to do? There’s no more room in your cup. Come back when your cup is empty.”1
- Lent is a season to acknowledge the emptiness we sometimes feel. When do you notice it? How do you try to fill it?
- Lent is also a time to recognize the emptiness we sometimes feel as a gift. What is the emptiness trying to tell you?
- Some might call that emptiness holy; the “God shaped hole” that only God can fill. How might you allow God to fill that void?
PRAYER
Sanctify the aching emptiness in our lives to be the space where we not only encounter you, but experience the depth of your grace, your comfort, your fulfillment, your love. Amen.
1 Based on Barbara Brown Taylors essay, “Stay for Tea, Nicodemus.” Christian Century; Feb, 21, 1996, Vol. 113 Issue 6, 195.
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.