Glimpses of Glory in Lent - Day 22 Emptiness

Today the meditation is challenging. In 'Emptiness' Stephen Cherry describes that weariness which means I have nothing to give.
This is the desert experience.
This is the realisation of inadequacy.
This is being forced to remember that I cannot do it all myself.

And the prayer that is offered is not the plea to be filled.
That would be too tiring, to exhausting, too much.

The prayer that is offered is the request for a blessing.
For blessing of the weariness, the tiredness, the inadequacy.
It is a prayer for mercy.
It is a prayer for patience.

In the annual Covenant Service, Methodist people pray:
     Your will be done
     when I am valued
     and when I am disregarded;
     when I find fulfilment
     and when it is lacking;
     when I have all things,
     and when I have nothing...

It is not an easy prayer.
It reminds us of our mortality.
It reminds us that we may be set aside.
It reminds us that we might be empty.

But in all this we trust in God's promises and rely on God's grace.

 'He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me' (2 Corinthians 12:9)

So I pray in the words of Stephen Cherry:
'Give me the patience to live
by your grace
at your pace'