I started this post back in January but have not touched it since. After reading this quote somewhere I decided I wanted to remember it, so there is sat as a draft in my blog articles.
The phrase means something different to me now. Back in January I was contemplating my next move in life. I found what I wanted to do and I'm doing it. Apparently the phrase worked for me. I'm content with my decision and honestly happy about where I am right now. The future is bright.
With that in mind, I'm not going to stop. I'm figuring out what I want to do with my life but now I'd like to know who I'll be sharing my life with. I've already made the mistake of "putting all my eggs in one basket" as they say, so i'm not going to do that again. I'm finding friends and trying my best to be realistic about the way relationships work and how I personally work. Emotional chastity is something I need to work on. I'm trying to be more focused on being a friend first. If a relationship develops from a friendship, that's awesome and probably how it should be done. All that takes patience though, so that's another thing I'm working on.
The biggest thing though is I feel like I get it now. I'm finding and not just endlessly searching. With that comes loss, but that's okay. My only fear about loss is losing God, and I know that wont happen.
Peace all
There is a longing we all have that cannot be fulfilled. Union with God is the only true source of joy, yet, the pull of worldly things persists. The struggle goes on, but God is with me all the way. Here are my thoughts, findings and ramblings as I try to be my perfect self, for the glory of God.
Who Am I?
- D-Wherl
- I'm just a guy trying to trust in God and be the best I can be for God and others, then myself.
Life has been busy for me, and I just got around to reading your post. It resonated with me, because of somethings I recently read.
ReplyDeleteRobert Spitzer has written two books which I found very interesting. The first, Finding True Happiness, puts into words things which I think I intuitively believed, but he made logical sense of things. Happiness, especially for the young, is not something which is easily found ---- because they don't know what it means! And yet, as he points out, it is innately yearned for. This is a book I think you might enjoy.
The second book, The Soul's Upward Yearning, is of much greater depth. This is not a book for most people, and I found parts of it boring, and others very intriguing, like the part I thought about as I read your post. Spitzer notes that man longs for perfect truth, beauty, goodness and love. He gives tons of scientific and metaphysical evidences of these things, but then he notes this: these perfections are only found in God. And man longs for God. He then notes some problems with this longing for perfection --- we seek it in earthly things, not knowing it is not there. For example, many people marry the "perfect" mate, the "love of their life" only to be later disappointed. They are not as perfect as once imagined. The problem, Spitzer notes, is not the imperfect spouse, but the imperfect understanding of love, marriage, and even friendship. They will not be perfect, he notes. And when we realize that we yearn for that perfection, we may reject these others as not meeting our needs, not realizing that no man will meet those needs. What we need to expect in man --- spouse, friend, child --- is that they will NOT be perfect, and yet love them anyway, whether the imperfection we note is a one-time event, a period event, or even if we realize that that is just the way they are --- and will not change. Still, we must remain in our commitment.
I guess you could read those words as implying "don't expect too much of men," but that is not what is meant. What is important to realize is that men cannot be God ---- and especially not ourselves.
Hang in there; as I found out, wisdom DOES come with age, and with wisdom comes a deep joy and contentment.