Longings

A friend's comment last month gave me food for thought about longings.

Of course everybody longs for something: success, wealth, happiness, peace, a lifelong romance, a child, a tropical vacation. But life so easily becomes a quest to fulfill our longings, or at least to get as close to fulfillment as possible.

My friend was talking about how sad she feels every time she puts away her youngest child's outgrown clothing, knowing that her family won't need them anymore. She loves having a baby in the house, and it makes her sad to realize that her fourth will be her last. And, even if she and her husband decided to have a 5th child, that baby would grow up too. (Okay, a quick aside: I can empathize with her, but I can't totally relate. I love Huckle and Sally, but TWO is plenty. Sometime feels like more than plenty.) My friend feels torn between two temporal pleasures: the pleasure of having a baby and the pleasure of watching a baby grow up. She can never have both permanently -- it's an impossible outcome of human life.

Anyway, my friend ended this wistful talk by saying that this longing serves to remind her of heaven. And I think that's such a beautiful reflection. None of our longings can be perfectly fulfilled on earth. My friend's children cannot stay babies. But, instead of feeling frustrated or unfulfilled, we can turn that longing heavenward and remember what is waiting for us: a perfect existence without want or sorrow or unfulfilled longing. All our longings are for a perfection that is heaven.

It's a little like Plato's concept of Forms: we recognize objects on earth (for example, dogs) not because they all look alike or because we've seen a perfect object (dog) but because they represent a perfect, non-material object. Our longings are a craving for perfect fulfillment -- a perfect fulfillment that does not exist on earth (rationally, it's ridiculous to pursue something so impossible) but that we recognize through our eternal souls. Our longings for perfect fulfillment are the watermark of heaven imprinted on our souls.

Lord, use my longings for Your glory. Turn them from selfish dissatisfaction to signposts reminding me of heaven, where foolish desires fade and the deepest desires of my soul will be satisfied by your presence.