"Manifesting a complete lack of worldly power and might, Christ on the Cross exhibits the splendor of the love for the beloved that proceeds to the point of death. What is disclosed here is the splendor of the divine kenosis that exhibits this love." ("Prayer as Kenosis," James R. Mensch in The Phenomenology of Prayer p. 66).
As this quote indicates, Christ's example provides perhaps one of the clearest examples of kenosis in history. God completely emptied Himself of His power, took on flesh and allows Himself to suffer at the hands of His beloved for its sake. Regardless of whether or not you adhere to the Christian tradition, the story is a profound example of the sort of emptying prayer involves. However, Christ did not suffer for no purpose, but rather "for the joy that was set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2). Christ did not die for the sake of doing something dramatic, rather He was compelled by love. He emptied Himself for the sake of His prize, the joyful unity He longed to experience with His bride, the church. To engage in prayer is to follow this example. It requires the laying aside, the emptying of our own motives and abilities, even legitimate ones, for the sake of what is set before us. While sometimes these sacrifices may be minor, other times they are more dramatic but to the person engaged deeply in prayer, what is lost in kenosis is nothing compared to the object of his or her pursuit.
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