Made for Another World

I have just come to an important realization.  I will never - ever - be satisfied.  No one can give me what I truly want.  I can't win it for myself, nor can it be achieved through luck or hard work.  I will never be satisfied.

I want peace.  I want happiness.  I want joy.  I want Love.  And only God can fulfill these desires in my heart.  Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. - St. Augustine, "Confessions"

Some things will bring me closer.  Others further away.  To help myself get to this unattainable-in-this-life goal, I must cling to those things that bring me close to my Goal, and shun those that do not.

When I moved to San Francisco, I missed home terribly.  When I got over that, I missed Ave Maria horribly.  I visited Ave Maria last weekend and home this weekend.  Surprise, surprise...this isn't cutting it either.  Certainly there are things or people or experiences along the way that leave me teetering on the edge of what I want, but, in the end, they can only bring me so far.  The rest can truly only be filled by Christ's love for me - and my cooperation in that Love.

This is what I strive for.  If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. - C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

Sometimes I think that religious life would be easier.  I'd get to pray, read, work, and truly do all for the glory of God without the distractions and ho-hum-ness of daily secular life.  Being in the world is a trial not easily overcome. 

I'm truly thankful (and not just because tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day) for all of my friends who have brought me closer to this ultimate goal, who continue to inspire me to lead a good life, who encourage me when I feel like I can't go on, and who never let me rest when I do something to hinder my progress along the road to salvation.  I can only pray that one day, I can return even a small part of this huge favour.

Oremus pro invicem.