Hollow Times

 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.  Tears blur my eyes.  My body and soul are withering away.  I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness.  Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within.  I am scorned by all my enemies and despised by my neighbors—even my friends are afraid to come near me.  When they see me on the street, they run the other way.  I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot.  

I have heard the many rumors about me, and I am surrounded by terror.  My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life.  But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!”  My future is in your hands.  Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.  Let your favor shine on your servant.  In your unfailing love, rescue me.  Psalm 31:9-16

I’m not so certain that there can ever truly be a little case of depression.  Depression is the prologue to hollow insides of a human.  Being in the “hollow times” is the draining thing the Psalmist describes, punctuated by grief and regret.  Set apart, like a broken pot behind the garden shed, depression magnifies the hollowness within gnawing at any memory of what life was, once upon a time. 

Strangely enough, hollowness of mind, body, and soul is, at the same time, despised and feared, as well as the embarkment platform of repentance.  The Psalmist describes the cause of his emptiness as sin…drained my strength.  This confession, from the depths of the hollow man can only be genuine, when all strength, reason, and human resources have been exhausted. 

In Jesus’ sermon of the Beattitudes he holds forth the essence of the hollow beginnings of blessedness:

God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  Matthew 5:3

At the risk of skipping over a treatise on humility (poverty of spirit, as contrasted with depression) the “poverty” of a life emptied of any reason to still participate in breathing, can turn God-blessed, a veritable turnkey to the Kingdom’s door.  It is poverty of a depressed soul with nothing to offer, save trusting in the mercy of He who sits on Heaven’s throne.  Hollowness is the launch pad for being filled. 

Have you ever tried to stuff a little more into something that was already overflowing?  Or, have you tried to take a little more out of somewhere that was already completely empty?  The Psalmist’s mantra is a theology of emptiness; the glass is neither half-empty, nor half-full; it is, as he said, reduced to broken shards, thrown-out behind the tool shed.  It can’t receive, nor can it give.  It is depression that is stuck in empty meaninglessness. 

I have known the hollow times.  Sparing the details, it was the kindness of caring souls pointing in the direction of God’s open, merciful arms, which allowed me a ray of hope.  My future seemed like a thick, black curtain, behind which there stood an impenetrable brick wall.  But when I called on him, trusting and leaning entirely on His grace, the curtain dropped, and the depression wall began to crumble. 

For You Today

If life has driven you into the hollow times, and your cup is empty and dry, remember the hot sand on the beach is only a few steps from the cooling waters.

[If you are suffering from depression there are caring professionals available to help.  If you have not found one, don’t give up.  I invite you to send me a message (RBrownworth@gmail.com).  I can listen or point you to help]

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©