"We are afraid of emptiness.... We like to occupy-fill up-every empty time and space. We want to be occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we have even reached them. We fill them with our worries, saying, 'But what if ...'
It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God's actions in our lives, it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let's pray that we can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source of all love." (Henri Nouwen)  This so-called-emptiness may be the solitude God is calling us into so that we can hear the stillness of his voice in the midst of our busyness. Lent is a time to enter into this emptiness with God. It is not a time to fill our life with many distractions. Our need to have our life full of works could be a sign that we are trying to find our identity not within us but outside of us, in the things we do. If we believe that we share in God's divine life within us, that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, then we need to spend quality time alone with the Lord who is both outside but also within us.