I desire

In trying not to freak out over my growing list of things to do before I try to take a couple weeks off next month, and the fact that I am once again at my weekly point of thinking there is no way I'll be able to come up with a sermon and worship service for Sunday, among other things... This morning I looked to 'The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life'. It is a compilation of writings from Henri Nouwen put together by Wendy Wilson Greer.

On p.31 Nouwen said this about Our Desire for Communion (from his book Here and Now):

What do we really desire? As I try to listen to my own deepest yearning as well as to the yearnings of others, the word that seems best to summarize the desire of the human heart is "communion." Communion means "union with." God has given us a heart that will remain restless until it has found full communion. We look for it in friendship, in marriage, in community. We look for it in sexual intimacy, in moments of ecstasy, in the recognition of our gifts. We look for it through success, admiration, and rewards. But wherever we look it is communion we seek...

The desire for communion... is a God-given desire, a desire that causes immense pain as well as immense joy. Jesus came to proclaim that our desire for communion is not in vain, but will be fulfilled by the One who gave us that desire. The passing moments of communion are only hints of the Communion that God has promised us. The real danger facing us is to distrust our desire for communion. It is a God-given desire without which our lives lose their vitality and our hearts grow cold. A truly spiritual life is life in which we won't rest until we have found rest in the embrace of the One who is the Father and Mother of all desires.