Reed of God by Carol Houselander

It is not a formless emptiness, a void without meaning,
on the contrary it has a shape, a form given to it by the
purpose for which it was intended. It is emptiness like
the hollow in the reed, which can have one destiny:
to receive the piper’s breath and to utter the song in his
heart. It is the emptiness like the hollow of the cup,
shaped to receive water or wine. It is the emptiness like
that of the bird’s nest, built in a round warm ring to
receive the bird.

Most of us are very full, with little or no room left to
receive God, or enough silence to hear God’s still,
small voice. Our work now consists in sifting and
sorting out everything that is not essential and that fills
up space and silence in us, and discovering what
shape this emptiness in us is. From this we will learn
what sort of purpose God has for us.

Submitted by Sue Hudacek

Sue: “Ricky, what do you think of this? Do you think
we have to empty ourselves so that we can welcome God?
Welcome the baby Jesus?”

Ricky: “Well, Jesus just loves me. He fills my heart. Fr. Jimmy
fills my heart. He is not in the chapel now. He is in my heart.
Fr. Jimmy just loves me. He loves you too, Sue.”

Sue: “You know, Ricky, I have to keep emptying my heart from
all the things that fill it…like being too busy, too many distractions,
not taking enough time for silence and prayer. When I do this, I
can feel Jesus’ love in my heart, too.”

Ricky: “I think, Jesus is in my heart. He helps me a lot. Love just
fills my heart. I think of you, Sue. I wonder, Jesus helps me a lot.
He helps each one of us, exactly. I wonder how Jesus got into my
Heart?”

Sue: “I don’t know how it happened, Ricky. I just know that Jesus
is in your heart! You love Jesus and Jesus loves you.”

Ricky: “Yeah, he does. Sue, when I go to bed tonight, I will pray for you.”

Sue: “Ricky, will you pray that Jesus will fill my heart like he does yours?”

Ricky: “Sure, I will do that before I go to bed tonight.”