YEARNING

Confidential cries cross the boundary of silence to my inbox in response to a survey of relationships. Humbled by their trust, I recognize my own struggles in many of these e-mails. There are nuts and bolts to be learned in long-term interactions -decoding of male / female languages and lessons passed from the seasoned to the less experienced. Regardless of age or situation, underneath our common conflicts often pulses the silent gnawing of loneliness.

As hurting humans, we are surprisingly prone to forget yesterday’s tenderness in the harsh reality of today’s demands and tomorrow’s fears. Like water on parched land, acts of kindness are absorbed into and forgotten by our thirsty souls. What can we do?

Two decades of marriage and ministry have painfully familiarized me with the futile routes we tend to take. Whether withdrawing in hope the hope of inciting pursuit, fighting for our needs to be met as if they were inalienable rights, scanning our world for anyone else who might fill the gaps, or just giving up and giving in to cynicism, injurious responses seem unavoidable in in the desert-thirst of incomplete affections. What other options do we have?

I know only one solution, and I often forget it: Let people off the hook of our expectations and turn our dryness instead to the One who creates this insatiable longing in every soul. Eternal beings calling for Home from deep inside. No method, no twelve step program for this ~ Just deep calling to deep. His Spirit stirring ours:

“ Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;”
(Isaiah 55:1-3a)

Only He can feed our souls, and it’s not a drive-thru fix. As with any healthy life-style, the benefits deepen over time. The one habit that determines whether life or death develops in our relationships is that of turning our thirsts to the Living waters. No matter how wonderful, every human is a broken cistern. Without the constant flow of fresh life, our supply grows stale. Love inverts to insatiable thirst instead of its intended generous outpour.

The yearning for You is beyond a cry
Remembrances from my origin
Fragrances, sounds from before we died
Calling from deepest within

Deliver in me the colors so bright.
The beauty we all seem to miss
Transform me into the most breath-taking sight
Of the abide You ache to kiss

Teach me to love You without any cover
Without any duty or fear
Open me to receive You, Heavenly Lover
To just realize: You are here

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.”
(Isaiah 35:5-6)

To register for our Marriage Tune-Up:
http://www.calvarymiamibeach.org/coming-events/marriage-tune-up/

To order Come Fill The Gap:
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Fill-Gap-Days-Solomon/dp/0989282805