Feelings or Reality?

Tonight I am thinking about feelings. I feel joy. I feel peace. I feel contentment. I feel like there is more than this existence--that there is a Being who transcends us in a world that is really real--a world beyond us and above us that calls out to us to live and make our dwelling there.

And then I think these are not feelings at all. What is a "feeling," really? I feel cold, but I am not cold. Cold is not my essence; it is simply a present, passing state until I find an outside source to bring warmth. I feel love, but even this is conditional. Change the conditions and anger or resentment can too soon replace that love. I feel joy, but take away its source, and I'm left feeling empty. And alone.

So maybe what I'm feeling tonight isn't "feeling" at all. Maybe I'm simply in tune with Reality. Whether or not I feel it, I have joy. Whether or not I can perceive it, peace is there. Regardless of my circumstances, contentment is.

Maybe we spend a lifetime searching for a feeling and chasing the wind, when an unshakable reality surrounds us, penetrates the very fiber of our beings, and simply....is. Maybe we are too afraid to relinquish control and allow ourselves to just be--to just dwell in Reality and realize that there is so much more to this life. Just maybe.

Intense Longing

As I woke up this morning, I had an intense longing for God. Have you ever experienced those moments, when everything within you wants nothing less than to be in the presence of God? Have you ever felt that if you were given the entire world, your hunger would not be satisfied--that only God is sufficient?

It's very seldom that my longings for God reach that intensity, but this morning, in the quietness of my room, my soul was crying out for Him. In that moment, God filled my heart with a prayer, and I wrote it out. It expresses the deep ache within me for Him alone.

I wrote and prayed this prayer today, and if you're in Come Thirsty, I prayed this over you, too, this morning. I prayed for each of you by name. Here's what was offered up on your behalf this morning:

O Lord,
This day, as I awaken from my peaceful slumber and rise from my bed, I will be bombarded with messages and images that compete for my attention and affection.
And the subtle and sweet lullabies they sing, though infused with dissonance and ringing out in disharmony, will begin to sound sweet in my ear.
And I will be tempted to listen, accept, and eventually treasure their message.

Let my ears not fail to hear the sound of Your still, small voice, crying above the chaotic noise below, "Come seek Me. Come find Me. Come treasure Me."
When I am beckoned to find my deepest joy and my highest hope in You, let me run towards that beautiful melody and join in its chorus until my voice is united with Yours in glorious harmony.

Keep my heart exceedingly discontent dwelling in the garbage dump, when paradise is just around the bend, beckoning me to enter, and to sing of my sweet salvation for all of eternity.