COMMUNION: OUR HEART’S GREATEST DESIRE
What do we really desire? As I try to listen to my own deepest yearning as well as to the yearning 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 a 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 that we seek.
As I looked at the faces of the gold medallists at the Olympics, with more than sixty thousand people applauding them and millions watching them on television, I caught a glimpse of that momentary experience of communion. It seemed as if they had, finally, received the love they had worked for with unwavering dedication. And still, how soon they will be forgotten. Four, eight, or twelve years later, others will take their place on the platform of success, and the brief moment of glory will be remembered by very few.
Still, the desire for communion remains. It 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 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.
Henri Nouwen, Here and Now
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