It seems to me that one consistent feature of this life is longing. Culture tells us this is a terrible thing, in a world of instant gratification to be denied what we want or even need when we want it is seen as at the very least poor customer service and at worst a denial of our human rights. But despite the stories our society tells us everyone experiences longing, and not just the consumerist itch for more but a deeper more profound sense that this is not all there is. The standard Christian response to this pervasive absence is that its our God shaped hole which, once we have surrendered our life to Jesus will be filled as only he can. And its true, to an extent. But I think that even this understanding of longing buys into our cultural preference for satiation. My experience of living in Christ is that whilst emptiness really is a thing of the past a new hope brings with it a new longing. Not the discontent of our cultural angst but a whole other experience, a sanctified desire for a new future. This longing shouldn't be resented, rejected as lack of faith or even used to accuse God of inadequacy; instead we should embrace this longing and allow it to motivate us to usher in God's future one day at a time.
Longing can then be full of joy and peace even against all the cultural odds as we rest in the certainty of our future hope and the all sufficient love of our God.
5 comments:
The reason I've never used the 'God-shaped hole' metaphor with any real relish is because (apart from me running a mile from most clichés anyway), I think its black-and-white-ness renders it unhelpful and potentially damaging to those who believe Christians who witness to the experience it purports to parallel. (Sorry about the long words, I'm just on an alliterative roll...)
'We all have a God-shaped hole' is true, Christians can agree, in the sense that we believe that allowing God into one's life restores something that has been missing. But other than that I think it's too formulaic. I'm sure many have interpreted the metaphor to mean that becoming a Christian means that a person will never feel incomplete again. This is simply not true. And so it frustrates me no end when, for example, Christians advise lonely Christian singles that God will fill that emotional gap.
Anyway, onto the point I was going to make. One of the only moments I can remember from sitting in a lecture during my Neuroscience degree was one about satiety. Apparently, most animals have different satieties for different nutrients. On his daily scavenge for food, a rat might find and feast on a blob of jam. She will continue to do so until she has been satiated for carbohydrates and will then stop. She will then go off and find a piece of cheese and become protein-satiated. Her brain knows when she's had enough of one type of food and moves her on to the next until she's had a balanced 'meal'.
Supposedly humans have, on the whole, lost this ability, and so we often keep scoffing the cake or the doughnuts long after we've had enough sugar, for example, because we confuse the signals our body is sending out saying it is hungry for something else.
Well, the science is loosely what I've just described. But I think it's a better illustration than the God-shaped Hole. At least, it mirrors my story. There was definitely an experience of a kind of 'completeness' or 'filling' when I became a Christian, but as time has gone on, I've become aware of different areas of my life in which I don't feel that completeness (and probably never had) - eventually God fills the gap and then something else crops up. I think that's a more realistic take on what actually happens. I guess it's what you said - God gives you a new longing - but I've found that that new longing takes various forms as I grow and learn about Christ.
Loving the fact that you've started blogging again...great stuff. Always very thought provoking - miss you!
Hmmm...my rat changed gender halfway through. I've recently decided to always use she/her for the third person singular, but obviously it hasn't filtered down from my frontal lobe to my cerebellum yet...
That's so the problem with Christian cliches, they are all a bit true so it takes time and energy to explain to everyone why we shouldn't use them cos they are only a bit true!
I'd heard the specific satiation thing before and yes I think you're right except maybe we take on some longings that are more than we would come up with alone, that are God's longings somehow. Glad you explained your positive descrimination policy, for a minute there I thought you were insinuating that I'm a rat!
Loving the fact that you're reading my blog - miss you!
Hey anna, good to have you blogging again. I really agree with this. So often a metaphor is used to hint at some apparent truth, and is then accepted as popular doctrine. That's why I think faith has to be a journey of exploration and re/discovery – we have to keep the metaphors alive so that they can still be valuable, always holding them lightly as we go.
Otherwise when the metaphors fall short people will react negatively (Christianity is broken!) or just live in denial (This is how it is! Don't ask me to question my faith).
I certainly think that being a Christian is in part about longing and yearning for more.
Here's a go at another (flawed) metaphor – starting a journey of faith is not about having a hole filled, but about lifting our eyes from our feet and looking to the horizon.
Hey Geoff, love it, thanks!
Post a Comment