unrest

I am reading a book entitled The Holy Longing   by R. Rolheiser. I've just started it but it touches me...probably because the author talks about the restlessness, a longing, a hunger, an ache that lies in the center of the human experience, a desire and a delicious hope.  He says that spirituality is ultimately what we do with that desire and hope.

The way this author talks about spirituality fits with what I said in my book Filling the God-Shaped Void. The restlessness and longing that Rolheiser identifies as part of the human experience is the void we often are attempting to fill with the addictions and behaviors that cause great pain in our lives and the lives of those we love. He says there is the fire within us and what we do with that fire, how we channel it, is our spirituality.

Some people tend to dismiss the idea of spirituality because to them it has a religious connotation. Rolheiser defines spirituality much more broadly---at least to begin with.

Naming the restlessness, the longing, the ache, the desire, the hope makes it more than a void. Naming it gives us some choices in our behaviors and how we deal with it.

Do you sense a void, a restlessness, a desire, a hope? How do you deal with it? Would you call that your spirituality?

Blessings-Penny