At the conclusion of Chapter 1 (“An Emptier, Fuller Life”) of One Thousand Gifts, author Ann Voskamp hypothesizes that the devastating adversities that rip holes into our world and faith might in fact be places for us to see through to God. Ann wonders:
” . . . if the rent in the canvas of our life backdrop, the losses that puncture our world, our own emptiness, might actually become places to see. To see through to God. That that which tears our souls, those holes that splatter our sight, may actually become the thin, open places to see through the mess of this place to the heart-aching beauty beyond. To Him. To the God we endlessly crave.”
It is, the author states, wildly possible to live an emptier, fuller life. One Thousand Gifts is her testimony to how God restored her sight. Paul encourages us to have the same attitude (RSV- “be of the same mind”) as Christ Jesus:
” . . . he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:7
