Great are You, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; Your power is immense, and Your wisdom beyond reckoning. And so we men, who are a due part of your creation, long to praise You – we also carry our mortality about with us, carry the evidence of our sin and with it the proof that You thwart the proud. You arouse us so that praising You may bring us joy, because You have made us and drawn us to Yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in You (Confessions of St. Augustine, Book 1, Chapter 1).
This morning about 5:30 my baby girl awoke hungry, and since the past couple of days she’s been fighting a fever possibly due to a slight ear infection, my wife and I both ran to her side. After she was satiated (more or less), I decided to get up, throw a pot of coffee on, and have some time in the Lord’s presence. As I meditated on Scripture (Psalm 46), I remembered Augustine’s words that “our hearts are restless (unquiet) until they rest in You.” Like a baby who will not be satisfied in any other way than its mother’s milk, so our souls are actually designed to hunger and thrive for God. All else will fall short. “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You” (Psalm 63:3-5).
“Father, forgive us for looking for satisfaction in anything other than You. Let our lives put on display our hunger for You…that the world would see You in us. This Advent awaken a hunger in Your Bride, Your people, a hunger that cannot be quenched by the fleetingness of this plastic world, and release an undying desire in Her heart to proclaim You and Your love and mercy. Amen.”