Abstract: In general, we are a people averse to living in a void, and yet, without longing, without emptiness, without delay, without unknowing, we are incapable of tasting the sweetness of fulfillment and togetherness. The hero journey, identified by Joseph Campbell as a basic template in storytelling, reveals that much of a good story is spent in distress and discomfort. A quick look at the stories of Martha and Mary, Job, and Abram and Sarai highlights the fact that elements of emptiness, unknowing, and waiting are present in each one's experience of God. I posit that the void is present in human experience because, in some mysterious way, it is woven into the very essence of the divine drama of the self-emptying, always-giving Trinitarian God. Emptiness is a way to make space for the other; in other words, it is an expression of hospitality.
The full paper is attached to this post.
