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Everyone has heard the question, “Is the glass half-full or half-empty?” Common wisdom claims those who answer “half-full” are optimists and those who answer “half-empty” are pessimists. Perhaps the truth is that the glass is actually both half-full and half-empty. The idea for today’s blog came to me as I sat waiting for church to start this morning. In our adult formation class before church we had just studied several chapters in Chittister’s (1992), The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century. One paragraph kept running through my mind (p. 113) in which Chittister wrote about rabbis teaching that we should all “have two pockets….In one should be the message, “I am dust and ashes,” and in the other we should have written, “For me the universe was made.'”
Again, here is something that says to me, “Stop. Think. You are not one or the other. You are both.” In recovery terms it means that we are constantly trying to recognize when our ego-self gets in the way of our letting God’s Will run our lives so that we can stay in recovery and grow spiritually. We are constantly challenged to let go of our self-centered thinking and acting. On the other hand, we are also challenged to learn to forgive ourselves and to love ourselves. We need those “two pockets” the rabbis taught about so we can remember we are “dust and ashes” as well as recipients of the universe.
Rohr (2009, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, p.34) wrote that the” Dalai Lama says …,’A change of heart is always a change of mind.’ You could say the reverse as well—a change of mind is also a change of heart. Eventually they both must change for us to see properly.” In recovery we need to change our mind and our hearts to see that we are both “full and empty”— emptying our self-will and filling with God’s grace and love. It is not until we “get over ourselves” that we can comprehend God’s grace and love and accept it. For me, this is the best way to be both “half-empty” and “half-full.”
Please comment and share your thoughts about being both full and empty at the same time. May God bless and keep you.
Living One Day at a Time 
Well said Kathy! Life is full of dichotomies.. In order to be balanced, we must have both sides. Have you ever felt so full it feels empty? I have. I guess the bottom line is that whether we perceive the glass as half empty or full, God is holding the glass.
Exactly….God is holding the glass. For that I will be eternally grateful! Thank you for your insightful comments!
this morning I got into my car and noticed that the tank was almost empty. I thought to myself ” I want it to always be full.” But it can’t be; when I go to the gas station for a fill up, it is full only until I turn the car on again. And even at the gas station there is a reminder “do not top off” so it’s never full. Today I don’t want to worry, to be responsible, to have to fill up, or pay bills, or call someone, or answer calls, or make supper. But there are plans to be made and plans to be carried out. And if I am to be a part of life, I need a plan. I find out I can’t function without a plan. And because I forget, Yes, I have to write it down. So I wrote it down. This goes with my spiritual life too. I need a plan and then I need to follow through.
Thanks for the awesome thoughts in the blog today. Much to ponder.
With a plan that covers spiritual matters too, I think you’ll definitely be leaning towards the “full side.” Thanks for your comment!