Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
How many books must I write to feel special enough?

How many books must I write to feel special enough?

Last updated on: May 21, 2019 at 6:33 pm by Kathleen Mulhern

How many books must I write to feel special enough? 2019-05-21T18:33:52-06:00 Kathleen Mulhern

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Okay, apparently my last post was not tongueish-in-cheekish enough, and some of my readers considered it a cry for attention, which is pure irony, when I think about it. Not that I don’t welcome the plaudits, because most people to be noticed. We all want the big ratings, the responses:

The question is, how big is the abyss? How much is enough to fill it? Perhaps it depends on what we’re shoveling in. For example, one of my dear friends is trying to fill his abyss with Oreos. That would take a lot of Oreos.

Another is filling his abyss with Xtreme Performance RZRs. This seems to be more likely to fill an abyss more quickly.

But then there’s the friend who is shooting for most vacation houses—one in Paris, one in Aspen, one in Half Moon Bay. Now we’re talking quicker satiation, right?

There are also the intangible hungers, the ones that we can’t dip in milk, drive, or decorate. We crave beauty—our own and the possession of it. We crave experiences—helicopter skiing, deep sea diving, treks in Nepal, and taking our selfies on the Great Wall of China. We want more security; we want more knowledge; we want more connections; we want more accolades; we want more money; we want more entertainment. We want more power. (I did watch the first season of House of Cards.)

We need more peanut butter.

Wait, that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? As though enough peanut butter would satisfy my existential longings. Peanut butter is not existential! It can’t penetrate the dark, echoing caverns of my soul! How silly.

And yet, that is the same madness as the others. There is nothing, not one thing, that can relieve the hunger of my heart except relationship with God. If we genuinely have a God-shaped vacuum in our souls, it is bigger than the entire cosmos, boundless in its capacity.

Ask Eve. This one thing, this forbidden fruit, it’s all I really need to satisfy my physical hungers, my longing for meaning and wisdom and beauty and identity. Just this, despite the fact that the world is offered to me and God himself is walking in the garden calling my name. Just this, just this one thing, just this one time. It will fill me. It’s all I need.

This one thing—you fill in the blank—is a drop of water flung into a furnace of longing. It is a pebble we’re trying to use to bump a planet out of orbit. It’s a child’s puzzle piece we think will connect with quantum string theory.

It’s an abyss, that empty place within. How much do we really need in order to make it less echoing, less cavernous, less lonely, less hungry?

More.

Unless we fill it with the Presence.

How happy we would be if we could find the treasure of which the Gospel speaks; all else would be as nothing. As it is boundless, the more you search for it the greater the riches you will find; let us search unceasingly and let us not stop until we have found it. ~ Brother Lawrence

Oreo image from Wikipedia

Previous Post

May 14, 2019

I want to write a book and be special

Next Post

June 19, 2019 Trinity Sunday and Event Horizons

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Ascetical Theology Book Reviews Children and Parenting Easter Epiphany Friends of God Lent Life in the Spirit Ludolph Pascalian Spirituality: a series Politics Prayers Six Neo-Christian Myths Spiritual Formation Tales from My Father Trinitarian Spirituality: a series Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 January 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 April 2022 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 June 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 March 2015 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 February 2011 October 2010 September 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 November 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is the most common author of the Psalms?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Solomon David Asaph