Make room for it

Neale Donald Walsch (emphasis mine):

Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that. You cannot hold onto the old all the while declaring that you want something new. The old will defy the new; the old will deny the new; the old will decry the new. There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make room for it.

I've been "doing" Advent this year, which for me, has included praying the daily office, abstaining from meat and sugar, and fasting until sunset twice a week. I've been doing this not to "earn" grace (which is a gift) but to remove what are probably impediments to receiving it.

One metaphor I've heard used is tuning in a radio station, but last night I was thinking more along the lines of being receptive to the gift as well. Watching crap TV or eating fast food, to me, is the equivalent to turning your back on a gift rather than holding one's hands out to receive.

Interesting to see it reflected in this Walsch quote from today's daily meditation from Richard Rohr.