There are four questions of value in life… What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is same. Only love.
~Johnny Depp
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, in Luke 10
Oh beloved, it is true.
Each of us have a sense of desire. Each of us has a sense of right and wrong. Together, these two aspects of our being are a powerful argument for the the existence of G_d. There really are no strong arguments for any other cause, than a Higher Cause.
As CS Lewis said, “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these 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.”
However, beyond the reality that our conscience is hooked to a compass with Him as North, and our our inbuilt longings prompting our inner eye to continually view this compass, we can see that the readings we get when we are in the proper state help us to answer some very core questions in our lives. In Philosophy, there is a fancy word that is used for these “first questions” of Life.
Axiology
Now, there is no need to go off on some intellectual wild goose chase on something like this. We can see it right there in the word. The intersection between our conscience and our desire is the axle around which our entire lives turn. It defines for us what we see as:
Valuable
Beautiful
Relational
Right
Wrong
Important.
Can we see it?
In us, is this incredibly powerful desire for something better in Life. And there is also this voice that tells us where to look to find it. And when we listen. When we read the documentation, something happens to us. We are drawn up into the higher and deeper places. We are drawn towards Him.
And as we go in this direction, the Power and Joy and Satisfaction of Life grows in ways we never thought possible. We realize that one moment in His Presence is worth more than all the gold in all the world.
However, it is a tough road. Because as we look towards Him, we look away from everything else. And, it is possible to decide to forgo the deep and true, for the shallow and false. This too, helps prove that there is a G_d. For, as we turn away from His Light, we feel the darkness descending into our lives:
Resentment
Bitterness
Lust
Anger
Fear
Doubt
Isolation.
It is weird for this fool of a writer, but i guess that you experience it too sometimes. There will be times where we look away from our deeper, eternal desires – and give way to the temporary lusts of our old man. But, the question should instantly come to our minds. Is it worth it?
Think of it, there is a test. What if you got it all? What if you got the whole world. What if you got all the pleasure and fame? What if you got all the power and glory? Would it be enough? No, of course not.
But then, think of a moment like this. Or, imagine something else like it. What if just one of your deepest hopes could be met? What if you could sense and experience unbroken relationship with The One Who knows everything about you and is absolutely crazy about you. Would it be enough? Of course it would be.
As G_d sets me free from my foolishness, i have begun to have a dream that has grown into something that is becoming, to me, more real than this world and everything in it. The dream is that there will be a moment in The Kingdom where I just get to hug my beloved King.
We are in some beautiful setting, like some sort of park. And as I falteringly approach Him… though i have been there some time, maybe æons, things have finally settled down into a beautiful rhythm, i reach out to simply greet my Brother, and King, and Friend and great Husband of my soul.
Then it happens. He pulls me into His great chest, and I can feel the beat of His Sacred Heart. I can smell the eternal, holy, fresh scent of His Spirit. And then… He just holds me, for just the right amount time (maybe centuries, maybe eternities… there is no hurry). And, He just tells some things i need to hear at the very depth of my spirit. Those words will come on That Day, but I can sense the healing they will bring.
And then, in the dream, it strikes me. This was everything i ever thought i wanted in everything else i ever tried… And infinitely more.
So, are you thinking you want to take your eyes off the prize? We all do from time to time. The question though, again, is: Is it really worth it?
Tonight is your night. Listen to that deeper desire. Allow your conscience to point your eyes in the right direction. Everything you really seek is there. In Him!
Christ is not valued at all unless He is valued above all.
~ St. Augustine of Hippo
