Spiritually Satisfied...

Spiritually satisfied

Among the many different philosophies and viewpoints, I believe that there is one truth to be found. My utmost desire is that you will find the way to the truth, or that the truth will find you. I believe you can be spiritually satisfied.

Then you will have clarity and will find peace, presence and security. It may be that you have a different opinion and belief system to me.

Maybe you study the Koran or Buddhist writings, or the Torah or perhaps other sources of inspiration, so on the one hand I don't want to challenge your thinking by presenting an absolute.

But on the other hand, I am compelled to share with you my experience of my own short comings, my faith in God, and my belief in a life after death.

When I read the Bible I have Jesus, the man from Nazareth and Son of God, as my role model. He did not pressure people with his teaching.

He had a presence about him and talked happily to those who wanted to listen but he did not run after people with persuasive offers.

Especially among common people, he was so loving, tender, caring and self sacrificing that it provoked, you might say, the religious rulers of the day.

It can at this point sometimes go wrong for us when we, as human beings, try to impress God with our works and our faith, and with all the things we can do for him. When feeling like this I’m likely to start to compare myself with others, and get tempted to feel a little “on top of things” and good about what I’m doing.

To be honest, it is also here that I lose the joy of knowing Jesus and of being with him because I’m too preoccupied with what I’m doing for him.

When I read what Jesus said: “It is not the healthy that need a physician but those who are sick” or “that I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”, then something starts to happen inside of me that gives me hope, joy, and a faith that there is a caring God to be found.

When I can identify myself as a person who has needs I find rest. It is also here that I usually find it most difficult because I think in some way or another that I should do something more for my closest relatives, my friends, the poor, and the world in general, and for God.

It is also at this point that I feel guilty as I realize how helpless and powerless I am especially when considering the needs of the whole world.

It’s then that I often fall short, but there where I find truth about myself. I often run dry of energy, but there I find the need to receive strength. I often despair, but there I find the need to receive joy – it’s very humbling.

As long as we are well, we don't want to feel the need of help. We believe that we would be much happier if we helped others. It is often when we‘re ill, we’re reminded how helpless we actually are.

And it is when death knocks, that we really understand how little control we truly have. So it can be said that it is a big privilege not be taken away from life suddenly, where maybe there has not been the time to prepare for death to the same extent as those with life threatening illnesses.

There are some passages from the Bible which, I believe, give hope, comfort, and increase faith, as they take away the fear for the unknown. For example the apostle Paul quotes Jesus saying, “My grace is sufficient for you and my strength is perfected in weakness” When I receive this and believe it I become, like Paul, comforted and strengthened.

If you Google the word grace, according to Wikipedia the free encyclopedia it has more than one meaning, including goodwill, forgiveness, freedom and favor.

Another interpretation of grace is receiving something we don’t deserve. For such proud beings this is probably one of the most difficult things to accept. We want so much to have our names on a performance list.

Maybe it is therefore why religion is so popular. Religion is certainly about works, and has so many rules that should be followed, which for the most part, none of us manage to follow.

Therefore, with us, the thought of death is often absent because it would remind us of our own powerlessness and, not least, because our pride often forbids us to receive grace.

I have taken the freedom for myself to talk to the God, who I do not see. Sometimes I talk with a quiet audible voice, and sometimes only in thoughts. When no one else is present I am the most honest.

I tell Him about my joy and my sorrow, my victories and my defeats. I talk sometimes as if God is there together with me. When I am weary it helps to get together with friends, with the idea that we will talk to God together.

I myself believe, that I have virtually understood the Gospel as the New Testament presents it: that God exists, and is almighty and ultimately good, and holy and righteous in everything – and that we humans beings in no way can live up to God’s perfect commands on how to live an upright life.
Therefore by definition, by our own performances or piety we are unable to achieve God’s acceptance and enjoy God’s presence, both for now and for eternity, and this is what the Bible calls loss.

For me to be prevented access to the presence that I so long for is loss in itself. It is like the little girl with the matches, depicted by Hans Christian Andersen, outside a window longing to be in the wonderful presence which she sees, but is unable to experience.

I think about the English professor of literature C.S Lewis's description of how he rationally came to the conclusion that there must be another world other than this world that we see with our eyes.

He reasoned in the following way: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.

If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for something else of which they are only a kind of a copy, or echo, or mirage.

I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same."

My own dilemma is not that small though. I am longing after something which this world obviously cannot give me. I call it God’s presence, and I am prevented from experiencing that presence because of my own short coming.

Religion says that I should “get my act together”, but it has shown to give the same poor results, like my last diet - I could not stick to it.

However in the New Testament, I find really good news. That there is to be found another righteousness from God which is not about how I should religiously try so hard to live up to the Law of God (and thereby become more strange to my fellow people and surroundings).

In contrast to that I am allowed to give up all my religious efforts, and turn myself to God in faith, and by grace, though undeserved, receive access to God’s presence in the present time and in eternity – by simply believing that the debt of my wrongdoings has been paid by a loving God.

“God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that everyone who believed in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This certainly sounds almost too good to be true, and it is also a provocation against all that religion seems to offer.

It challenges all the pride inside a person and it can be difficult for us to come to the point where we say, “God, today I receive with gratefulness your grace.”

My friend John Schmidt once said in one of his many glorious allegories, “The taste of soda is not enough, but there is also fizz”. In a way this sentence summarizes the longing, which goes a step further than just understanding the words.
I'm longing, I'm thirsting, and I'm recognizing that I am longing to be spiritually satisfied. It is not enough for me to intellectually; technically or theologically know how I can get a right relationship with God, and no longer fear death and what’s on the other side.

When I try to analyze the longing, then I choose to believe that there is something inside me, called a soul, or spirit, or that which is the real me, which sincerely longs for something I cannot describe with words. I imagine myself that it is my innermost spirit which is longing after God.

But what is spirit? If I were a theologian I would probably refer to the Greek word pneuma, which is where the word spirit comes from. There is though in Latin a word for spirit which better describes it: “spiritus” (literally spirit in English). Intoxication by alcohol can give to some degree of satisfaction and in a way it can give us human beings “consciousness”, for example sorrow.

Maybe we have received wine from God to give us a little example of what spirit is all about, namely another consciousness. At least it is interesting that the apostle Paul encourages us in the New Testament, by telling us to be filled with spirit rather than with too much wine.

It is true that we can quickly get too much of every good and pleasurable thing which can be found in this world. Whether it’s a good steak, or wine, or a piece of chocolate, eventually we will have the discomfort of too much of a good thing - of that particular thing.

But it seems to be different with the spirit. The New Testament tells us another interesting thing: that God is spirit... it must be Holy Spirit. I have often closed my eyes, and tried to keep my thoughts peaceful and say these words “Fill me Holy Spirit”. When I’ve said these words I have sometimes experienced something indescribable. Something tangible does not always happen, which is very interesting, and assuring as it shows that I cannot command this to come, because then it would be subject to my humanity, and therefore from this world.

We’re all different, and I would not want to criticize the way you pray your prayers. But if you do not know how to talk to God, you are most welcome to make use of my prayer. I myself might have borrowed it, but I cannot remember from whom. The most important thing right now is the presence...

You could pray something like:

“Dear God, thank you for life, the light, and another new day. You are God, I am a human being. I do not feel myself worthy, but I am longing for you, and I turn myself to you.”

“I believe that you love me so much that you gave yourself for me by Jesus Christ so that I should not perish but receive eternal life. Fill me Holy Spirit of God... fill me right now, satisfy me with your presence… I am longing for you Almighty God... Fill my heart with your love, peace and truth… ”

When you then are filled with love, peace and truth, you are truly blessed and love will always reach out to others. Therefore I suggest you pray this prayer:

“God, make me a blessing to my neighbor. Help me to give love, forgiveness and understanding unconditionally. Help me God, that all I meet today will feel your love through me.”

“Thank you so much God.”