I am fascinated by the ending of books. I think I have been influenced by my younger daughter. When she gets a new book, quickly she looks to see what the first word and the last word of the book are. She often makes up her mind about the book based on these two words! I am not that radical. However, I do like the first line and the last line of books. I think they tell us a great deal about the book and the author’s intention.
Last evening
I finished reading a book I have used in my class. It is a great book by one of my favorite
spirituality authors, Gerald May. The
book is Will and Spirit. Actually, the great sentence is not the last
sentence, but the second to last sentence.
Let me begin with that one and reflect on it. And then we can glance at the last sentence
and see how it reinforces the sentence I want to give focus.
The
penultimate sentence says, “At the deepest level of our hearts we are all
aching, for each other and for the same eternally loving One who calls us.” Let’s unpack this very suggestive
sentence. My initial observation notes
that the sentence is cast in the first person plural, namely, “we.” It may be about me, but it also about you and
all of us. I value that focus. So much in our society concerns only me. Too frequently I am ego-centric---centered on
me. And if you are egocentric, then we
already have problems. This is about
humanity---about all of us.
The second
observation is May’s focus on the human heart.
Of course, he is using the language of “heart” in a metaphorical
sense. Our hearts point to the essence
of who we are. I could also use “soul”
language. My heart is my soul. And interestingly, May thinks there are
levels. It makes sense to me.
I can be
superficial with respect to my heart. I
see students on campus, but I may see little or nothing of their hearts. They might even grunt “hello” to me, but
there is no engagement. We often hear
the phrase, “their hearts just weren’t in it.”
That usually spells trouble. On
an athletic team, that usually means a loss!
In a concert that means bad music!
Of course,
there are deeper levels of heart. If I
am walking across campus and see a friend, my heart typically is touched at a
deeper place than when I encounter a stranger.
Their “hello” is a welcome word and, normally, a word of
engagement. Even if we continue in
passing, I feel like I have been touched by him or her.
And we all
know there are even deeper levels to the heart.
Family typically goes deeper.
Children may take us pretty deep.
Falling in love clearly goes very deep.
And now we are beginning to reach that level of the heart to which May
is pointing. In fact, he talks about the
deepest level of our hearts. There at
the deepest level we are all aching.
That sounds like fun!
I am not sure
this “aching” is painful. I sense it
more as “desiring, indeed deeply desiring.”
We ache and desire each other. To
me this anticipates May’s emphasis on love.
Aching for each other is a quaint way of talking about a deep desire to
love and to be loved. But there is more.
May also says
this aching at the deepest level of our hearts is also an aching for the
eternally loving One who calls us. I
agree with May. In fact, I would go so
far as to suggest that aching for each other will never ultimately satisfy
unless we also are aching for the God who created and loved us into being. It is a triangle of relationship: me, you,
and God. I also like the idea that God
is the eternally loving One. Who can go
wrong if there is Someone who is eternally loving you and me? You and I may fail each other, but God will
never fail anyone at any time. Glory be!
If we could
be in touch with this deepest level of our hearts and begin to address that
aching for each other and for God, we would be on a path that would bring deep
significance and meaning to our lives. Indeed,
I would argue we would have found the purest reason for living. And if we could start living from that
deepest level of our hearts, we would become the most amazing people on this
earth. The good news is we can do it!
And now we
are ready for May’s last sentence. “We
would be well, I think, if we could acknowledge this more often to one
another.” I would like to take this to
heart! If I can manage that acknowledging
more often to some other folks, then I can begin to bring that deeper
significance and meaning to my life and, perhaps, make the world just a little
bit better. I want to live from the
deepest level of my heart.
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