So many of us (particularly me) have a terribly skewed view of the situations within which we find ourselves.
Over the last year and at various points of my existence I have declared to my wife that:
“I just feel completely empty.”
This has usually been after extended periods of sustained effort or exertion. Up until today I have never once looked at this statement of my experience in anything other than a negative way. A gentleman that I know has an empty coffee cup as his profile picture on social media and it really spoke to me today for the first time.
This cup which had contained liquid gold sat drained and stained on the table; all that remained within was telling the story of what had once been brimming hot and the glorious product of months of barrista training. The cup couldn’t speak, but it had witnessed and experienced the scalding dishwasher, the time upon the shelf waiting for the hand which meant it was time to live out it’s purpose. The steaming milk, the result of hours spent turning grass into milk in the innards of some gazing bovine chewing silently in an unknown field, and the velvety black fruit of the bean roasted to perfection and combined expertly to produce an item which was eagerly anticipated.
All of the work that went to produce the finished product was not appreciated as the recipient drained the cup in a matter of minutes. Others were unceremoniously knocked back through the hole in a plastic lid with no thought of the intricate design on the top being disfigured by the safety cap.
But in a corner sat a connoisseur; they knew the pleasure of a slow appreciation; they savoured the aroma, the deep roast, the careful hands who adjusted the machine till it flowed even and smooth. This was not a gulped caffeine fix, this was the sheer joy of savouring.
And on the table it sat, empty!
The process would begin again all too soon; collection, washing, drying, shelving, filling and emptying.
Cups are made to go through this process and we are made to follow in their pattern. An empty bank account generally means that I am in possession of something new; it may be a rested body and a tan, it may be a new TV or clothes. Equally it may just be that the month is almost over my mortgage is paid, and I have food in the cupboard. I have experienced the empty account with neither of these scenarios being the case, but that is a different story.
For me the emptiness indicated that a period of extreme busyness was at an end. Years of giving out had drawn to a close; the pleasure and the satisfaction enjoyed during the busiest of times had distracted from the depletion that was occurring. But it was the fulfilment of a dream, it was the outworking of years of preparation and prayer. The results were not the focus, it was the doing of what was required and walking out what had been stored in over the many years before.
I now understand the shelf time; that was only half the story anyway. The cup went through a whole lot before reaching the shelf and being in a position of usefulness. There are no shortcuts to usefulness, whether in business, in sport or in church; if we are not willing to go through the process we are as well not beginning in the first place.
The reality TV stars seldom last unless they are possessed of a talent already.
If you are empty, you are in a wonderful position; if you are willing to be filled for the benefit of others and not just for personal gain then just maybe you will leave a mark on the lives of your generation.
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