One of the great premises of Buddhist philosophy is the idea of giving up our attachment to things. By emptying ourselves of ways that we hold on to items, we can fill the new spaces with a higher consciousness. In our Christian world, we practice the principle in a similar yet different way. Christian emptying moves us to get read of an attachment to everything that keeps us from worshipping God. In other words, I must disassociate myself from people, places, and things that prevent me from living in wholeness.
I am not talking about waking up one morning and cleaning the house. I suggest a fearless and moral inventory of our attachment to the things that stand in the way of freedom to pursue the Most-High God. For instance, my inability to forgive a person does damage to me. To grow in my faith, I must let go and let God do the holy work in my spirit.
In a moment of true confession, I admit that there are people with whom I struggle to practice the art of forgiveness. They did way too much damage in my life, and I get angry at the thought of their name. My faith encourages me to continue to work until I reach a time when willingness speaks louder than anger, and surrender to the Divine overcomes the negative repercussions of resentment. The reality of the unconditional release of bitterness marks the moment of real transformation.
In this moment of Advent, let us reflect on our attachments to things that keep us separated from God. Let us pray for the willingness to surrender them and move forward on our journey. Let us grow in our faith until we mirror the image of Christ. In our moments of most profound hurt, when we feel the need to move from darkness to light, the real crying out of the Advent season rings true as we plead, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
