I was waiting to turn right into the road leading down to the back of Stockport station, when I saw it. A large advertising hoarding advertising Amazon Prime, with the words “Endless entertainment”. Heaven or hell?
I had decided to watch a drawing programme on Channel 4. I switched the television on and selected the channel. A notice came up saying that it wasn’t available. I sat and waited for a bit, a little impatient. Suddenly there was activity. Then I realised, Channel 4 is not 24 hour entertainment. It doesn’t begin until 7.0pm and this was the first programme of the evening.
We are often not comfortable with waiting. Having an empty space. Nothing to do. With just being. Perhaps even for a moment. Maybe it’s because, in that space, we come up against ourselves and that is not always comfortable. We are tempted to fill these empty spaces with activity, with sounds, with distraction, with entertainment.
Distraction can be helpful for a bit. We all need “time out” to relax from the pressures of life. Hopefully, once entertained we feel able to return to our world refreshed, ready to be with ourselves and with things as they are.
Empty spaces can play their part too. They can be creative. Emptiness is not a vacuum. A space is full of potential. After all, our faith is built on the potential of an empty tomb.
Chris Dawson