Longing for the Heart’s True Home
Conclusion
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
PSALM 42:1-2
OUR WORLD TODAY CRIES OUT FOR A theology of spiritual growth that has been proven to work in the midst of the harsh realities of daily life. Sadly, many today have simply given up on the possibility of growth in character formation. Vast numbers of well-intended folk have exhausted themselves in church work and discovered that this did not substantively change their lives. They find that they were just as impatient and egocentric and fearful as when they began lifting the heavy load of church work. Maybe more so.
Others have immersed themselves in multiple social service projects. And while the glow of helping others lingers for a time, they soon realize that all their Herculean efforts left little lasting imprint on the inner life. Indeed, it often made them much worse inwardly: frustrated and angry and bitter.
Still others have a practical theology that will not allow for spiritual growth. Indeed, they just might see it as a bad thing. Having been saved by grace these people have become paralyzed by it. To attempt any progress forward in the spiritual life for them smacks of “works/righteousness.”
If they have a theological bent they will know to watch out for all such efforts as likely “semi-Pelagianism” . . . or worse. Their liturgies tell them that they sin in word, thought and deed daily, and so they conclude that this is their fate until they die. Heaven is their only release from this world of sin and rebellion. Hence, these well-meaning folk will sit in their pews year after year without realizing any movement forward in their life with God.
Finally, there is a cultural malaise that touches us all to one extent or another. I am referring to how completely we have become accustomed to the normality of dysfunction. The constant media stream of scandals and broken lives and mayhem of every sort elicits from us hardly more than a yawn. We have come to expect little else—even from our religious leaders . . . perhaps especially from our religious leaders. This overall life dysfunction is so pervasive in our culture that it is nearly impossible for us to have a clear vision of spiritual progress. Shining models of holiness are so rare today.
Echoing Through the Centuries
And yet there is, echoing through the centuries, a great company of witnesses telling us of a life vastly richer and deeper and fuller. In all walks of life and in all human situations they have discovered a life of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17).
They have found that real, solid, substantive transformation into the likeness of Christ is possible. They witness to a character formation that is nigh unto amazing. They have seen their egocentric passions give way to such a selflessness and humility of heart that it astonishes even them. Rage and hate and malice are replaced with love and compassion and universal goodwill. All this is a deep interior work of the heart, not surface show. The inner life has been molded and shaped into something new, something beautiful. To be sure, this has not happened overnight. This vast throng of witnesses all tell of ups and downs, of detours and reversals. But they also tell of genuine progress forward.
All the men and women we have written about in this book have entered into this deep, character-forming life with God in profound ways. Some were more fully formed than others, perhaps, but all were substantially changed in the interiority of the soul. Each and every one experienced a life flowing with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and generosity and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control (see Gal 5:22-23). All were unique personalities and all came at the spiritual life from vastly different angles. In this book we have described these various angles as “paths of Christian devotion.”
We discussed seven of these paths:
These “paths,” of course, are not exclusive of one another. No one path is “right” and the others “wrong.” Indeed, they overlap and intertwine and mingle with each other. Likely, we will all find ourselves on one path or another at different seasons of our life.
Longing for the Heart’s True Home
So, you see, it really doesn’t matter which of these paths we are on or what stage of our spiritual development we are at or the extent of our knowledge and talents. Only one thing is essential for us to move forward in this life with God. This one thing is purely and simply a “longing” for this life with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. Psalm 42:1 evokes for us a powerful image to express this “longing” of the heart. It sets before us the image of a deer that longs for flowing streams. This image, says the psalmist, is the icon for our soul panting and thirsting and longing for God.
Now, we are not here speaking of a longing that we might have, say, to go skiing or to eat chocolate ice cream. Oh no, this is a longing that drills down deep to the very core of our being. It is a longing that sweeps up all our emotion and desire and hope into one great yearning for God. It is, in fact, the longing that God has created deep within our heart for its true home. This is the longing we hoped to convey to you when we gave this book its title: Longing for God. This God-crafted longing calls out to us beyond the noise and hurry and crowds. Quietly, persistently, it reminds us of those things we value the most. Lovingly, urgently, it calls us to peace and wholeness and affirmation.
Oh, friend, do you long for this kind of life? Do you? Do you have a burning craving for utter heart purity? “The pure in heart shall see God,” say the Scriptures (Mt 5:8). Even more, when we see God we long for purity of heart with all the energy of our soul. Oh, to have a flaming vision of a God-saturated life! Oh, to experience the searching, persuading, compelling reality of the Hound of Heaven! Oh, to have an insistent, heart-felt longing that will not let us go until we at last feast on what Thomas Kelly calls “the real whole-wheat Bread of Life!” Like the deer longing for flowing streams so our soul longs for God, for the living God.
Is this what you long for? Is this what I long for? If so, the invitation is open wide to one and all to come home, home to where we belong, home to that for which we were created. “Come to me,” says the living Christ. “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt 11:28-30 NKJV).