Filling Inner Emptiness

By Michael Elmore

People live such utterly meaningless lives. Victor Frankel, a survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps wrote a book entitled, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” In it, Frankel suggests that the reason he survived the Concentration Camps while multiples of tens of thousands didn’t was because he found a sense of meaning that gave him a sense of purpose that kept his hopes and himself alive.

It is my belief that most of us walk around with huge gaping holes in our souls that I describe as a feeling of emptiness. Emptiness is an extremely painful but all too common condition. The deal is that people seem to be on a constant hunt to find something, someone, some career, some addiction, some something – most anything to fill the inner emptiness they pathetically bear. Most of us would do anything to fill the “holes in our souls”. Have you ever had this feeling. Most of us have – I put myself in that category too.

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (c. 325) expressed much the same thought, “Our hearts were created for Thee O God and our hearts remain restless until they rest in Thee.” Similar phrases echo throughout the centuries by Christian writers and philosophers. Rene Descartes, a French mathematician in the 18th Century coined a most perceptive axiom on the subject. Descartes wrote, “Within all of us is a God-shaped void that can only be filled by God himself.” Sandu Singh, a Christian missionary and philosopher from the sub-continent of India during the 19th Century echoed the same thought when he wrote, “The human heart is such a tiny thing but only the infinite God can fill it.”

I have recently been reading in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, meditating on the words of the man who Scripture says was the wisest man that ever lived – Solomon. I think Solomon was particularly aware of the inner emptiness that he felt. And his empty feels must have been great because he attempted to fill them in such numerous ways. Read along with me some of the things Solomon attempted to use to fill the inner vacancy his heart must have felt.

In the first seven chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes he describes all of his personal attempts he tries to use to find fulfillment. He tries scientific discovery (1:10-11), wisdom and philosophy (1:13-18), entertainment (2:1), alcohol (2:3), architecture (2:4), property (2:7-8), and luxury (2:8) and least but not last, sex; the man had a thousand wives and 700 mistresses. Solomon turned his mind towards different philosophies to find meaning, such as materialism (2:19-20), and even moral codes (including chapters 8-9). He found that everything was meaningless, a temporary diversion that had no purpose or longevity. After all of his personal efforts to fill the emptiness that he felt within, Solomon concludes that every one of his diversions is “utterly meaningless”. In fact, he states over 35 times through this relatively short book of the Bible that every attempt he ever made to find fulfillment and fill the emotional hole of his life was futile, pointless and meaningless.

A song that recently came out on the radio asks an interesting question, “Have you worn out the world yet?” I think that Solomon did. The world held no meaning, no purpose, no satisfaction for him. I think another song might resonate with King Solomon if he had lived today – “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. It captures much of the same essence.

However, I do not believe that we have to end this little essay on a note of despair; Solomon didn’t. At the conclusion of his book we catch a glimmer of hope that Solomon finally found the one thing that would fill the “hole in his soul” – he comes to accept that faith in God is the only way to find personal meaning. He decides that life is brief and ultimately worthless without God.

In the end he concludes by advising his readers to focus on an eternal God instead of temporary pleasure. After years of attempting to fill the inner emptiness he felt as only a man as wealthy as a king could do, Solomon found that God alone could fill the inner recesses where the constant ache demanded to be filled. By focusing on God and the purposes for which God had created him to fulfill, Solomon assuaged the pain he felt and discovered the secret to absolute meaning.

Fulfillment

By Jeannette Doran

Fall is a time of fulfillment, joy and gratitude. We see the fruit of our labors and rejoice with thanksgiving. Over the past year we have worked towards the fulfillment of our desires. We have worked the land with firm hope for the abundant harvest. We begin to see the beauty of the countryside rich with vivid color. We feel the cool breeze; delight in the golden fields, orange sunsets, the wheat and corn waving in the wind. We remember our toil of the past year, our times of furrowing the fields and sowing the seeds. We are grateful for having given time to pruning, weeding and watering during the summer times of rapid growth. As fall comes we gather the harvest and store for the months ahead. Carefully we collect the seeds for next year’s planting. We prune and clear the land for winter’s long sleep. Seeing the fulfillment and fruit of our toils we gather together in thanksgiving giving joyful thanks to God and one another.

Our preparation for autumn’s fruit is a reflection in our spiritual lives. We work our inner furrowing in the land of our souls and we carve out spaces of growth towards a deeper intimacy with our God. All phases of growth are necessary. The desert periods bring rest, deep silence and darkness. These times ready the land of the earth and our souls for the furrowing of the fields and the seed sowing. In the spiritual realm we till the barren soil of our souls through vocal prayer, spiritual reading and reflection and periods of silent prayer. We spend time sitting still waiting for God’s work in the darkness and silence. All of these works eventually bring about the fulfillment of our desires. It may take a lifetime but we see as time deals gently with us so does our Beloved richly reward us. In our soul’s growth our inner being needs furrowing; we want to allow the Spirit to till the soil of our souls, to prepare spaces for seed sowing. We plow as we clear our minds of negative or fearful thought and begin to plant the tiny seeds of faith, compassion, hope and joy. These are watered with God’s grace sprinkled throughout the moments of our days. These seeds will grow and blossom as we nurture them. Our Carmelite rule invites us to meditate day and night on the Word of God and encourages us that a holy thought will guard us from all harm. We grow in faith as we focus on the truths of our faith such as the reality that the Creator of our universe dwells in the center of our being. Deep within our very being our God finds a home, a dwelling place. What a profound truth of our faith! Reflecting on this truth of our faith will fill one with hope and our hope grows as we experience God’s presence in our daily lives. Our hope is fulfilled and this creates a reciprocal love or a loving relationship with our Creator who so longs for our love in return. May we all know the rich abundance of autumn’s harvest and may this overflow into our spiritual growth and fulfillment.