Mankind was made for God. We are all created with an inherent and insatiable longing for God. When this longing is replaced by the pursuit of wealth, desires, ego, and the pleasures of this world, our being feels incomplete and broken. This ache is a clue to our origin and not a flaw in our design. This is because we are created in the image of God and for communion with Him.

 

Mankind is the only creature to be created in the image of God. To be created in the image of God is not a mere implication of man’s substance. It is a calling. By creating us in His image, God has called us into a relationship with Him. Our sole purpose as humans is to be in communion with God and to be in communion with all of creation. We are fashioned to know, love, and behold God and to subsequently reflect His image to the rest of creation as His appointed ambassadors. This calling is our true identity. Our existential feelings and anxieties stem from neglect of this identity. St. Augustine gives voice to this by saying, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” This is a theological restlessness. We long because we come from God, and our natural disposition is to be oriented toward Him. To know Him and be known by Him. To love Him and be loved by Him. To be fully immersed in Him. 

 

When sin entered the world, it distorted our desires and pursuit of God, turning us toward substitutes that bring us grave harm and never provide us with true satisfaction. Christ’s incarnation was a violent expression of love; meeting us where we are, healing our fractured being, and giving us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and redirect our minds and hearts toward Him.  As St. Paul writes, “that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7), and, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6). The desire for God is a cry of a child reaching for a Father. His hands are always open and ready to draw us into Him.

 

The longing for God is energy for the spiritual life. Paradoxically, the more we know and love God, the more we appreciate how much more we need to know and love Him. St. Gregory of Nyssa writes, “Seeking the Lord is not defined by limit or time; rather, the truly opportune time for this consists in never putting an end to our search.” The soul’s desire endlessly expands because God is infinite, and His infinite love penetrates us deeper and deeper. By partaking of His Holy Body and Blood, we are united with Him and He with us. Through this, he takes away what is corrupt in us and gives us Himself as food for the purity and sanctification of our beings. Christ taught us the ways of salvation through participation in the life of prayer, the sacraments, and the church. Blessed are those who seek Him.

 

To long for God is to live according to our true design. 

 

“​​To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” — St. Augustine