A Hunger Insatiable

I'm hungry, Ms J. We all are. Every soul on the planet is hungry. We each have a spiritual hunger and we all try to sate it physically -- with things and with acts and by using other people. We all have this longing deep inside for a kind of peace, an assurance that we are loved and accepted just as we are. This universal and undeniable hunger is, for me, the reason I go to church. This is not a sudden realisation, or one of those moments of elucidation or epiphany. I've been thinking about this for many years.

Our hunger can be recognised most often by noting the use of two little words, words we speak from our lips and in our hearts dozens of times every day:

I want ...

I want my deck finished. I want my furniture. I want my friends to be impressed. I want people to change.

I want.

More money. Less debt. A better car. A bigger house. A happier marriage. Motivated children. The list is endless.

These desires we label and identify as the source of our hunger. So we work harder, buy a new car, get a bigger house, a divorce, or pressure our kids. And guess what? We're still hungry.

We turn to the comfort of our addictions. We over-eat. We drink and have sex and take drugs and smoke cigarettes and masturbate furiously, but still the hunger persists.

The soul is the part of us that hungers, not the heart or the stomach or the sex organs. And for me, this hunger can only be satisfied by Love. Unconditional, never-ending, Love. Friends come and go. Wives too, and husbands. Parents die. Children withhold their affection when they're angry.

But if I hold to a firm belief in a higher power, if I trust there's someone who is pure Love, someone immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, someone who always forgives me, who loves me no matter what ... Well, then I can love myself. I know then that I am lovable, that I am worthy of Love. My fears subside. And my hunger is satisfied. My thirst is slaked.

"The bread of Life. The True vine."

Whatever trials may visit me, whenever storms threaten me, I have this belief to hold to. This Higher Power - God, Allah, Buddha, Muhammad, The Creator, Mother Earth and Father Sky - call Him/Her what you will, this divine entity loves me and desires and encourages my spiritual growth.

"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come.
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home."

I am safe. I am loved. Thanks be to God.

Amen.

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