"Are you Satisfied?",

Boy
by Didi Johnson






asked the waitress of my lunch partner, after I had ordered dessert. My friend said, "Yes, I'm satisfied, thanks." What a good thing to be able to say, even if it's about having a full stomach. Or perhaps especially when it's about being full!

We do have those moments, don't we? When we feel truly satisfied, content, blissful even. Times when if we died right then and there, it would be OK, 'cause life couldn't be any more wonderful than this.

Today is a "satisfied" sort of day here in Mid-Michigan. The sun is shining, there's a cool breeze, flowers and trees and birds and all manner of life is popping everywhere. I am one of the privileged ones in the world. I have enough--enough friends, enough food, enough material comfort, enough pets, enough health, enough work, enough freedom. Am I satisfied. No, not really. Grateful, yes. Satisfied, no.

I always long for more--for myself and for this world. Longing is what the soul is about. Longing keeps me going--seeking, trying, giving, learning, creating, loving. I know the answer to my longing lies deeper, deeper, deeper than any of life's outer trappings. Even human connection seldom leaves any of us satisfied for long. The Spirit, which resides within and without, is what keeps us longing, searching, desiring. Attention to that Spirit, in every thing we do and experience and feel, imbues relationships with love, strength, power, glory. One of the early church "fathers" said, "The Glory of God is a person fully alive." I would go beyond that to say ALL that is fully alive.

I've been aware recently of how many people I know who are not part of a faith community and I wonder what sustains that deep sacred place within them, especially in these uncertain and fear-evoking times. Many within churches or other faith groups, including the leaders, seem resistant to both the longing and the One who put it there. I hope they are finding solace, power, endurance, patience, joy, somehow. If not, I know a good church you could try. :)

Are you satisfied? Really? Keep looking, keep wondering, keep your eyes and ears open. Only you can choose the journey. But what you long for is available in the blink of an eye. It is right here, inside. It is both real in the moment and "not yet." With God there is always more. "Seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened."