What Are You Longing For?

“Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain . . . ”

This Sunday we get a beautiful vision from Isaiah, a picture of a world in which the most vulnerable are cared for, and no one takes advantage of or uses their power against another. It’s a vision in which even predator and prey coexist together. There is safety, justice, and peace. And this doesn’t just come about by itself; at the center someone is working to make it so, someone who comes from God to bring all the good in the world to fruition. This person — a savior or helper or instigator — shows us who God is and also reflects who we are as we long for safety, justice, and peace.

These are good things to long for, and it seems like we all want these things; as far back as the writer of Isaiah, and even before, we’ve wanted safety and peace. People have also, despite our desire for it, found ways to sabotage peace. But we do want it. We long for it. Threaded through the vivid description of this peaceful place I hear a deep longing, a yearning for a real world like that.

There’s something about Advent that puts me in touch with my own longing. Does it have that effect on you too?

As a child I was waiting, yearning, heart burning for Christmas to come with all its fun and presents and shiny things. Although my longing is different as an adult, it’s still there. There’s something in me that longs for more, that seeks something deeper, that desires. Although there’s a certain ache to this longing, there’s also something about God in it. My deepest desires, the ones that move me toward love and connection and intimacy, are sparked by God in the first place. They show me who I am; the fact that at my core I desire love shows me that I’m someone who loves. My desires also show me who God is; at the heart of my yearning for love is one who is made of love. My desires show me what is most important to me. They show me what God is calling me to, because that which God pulls me toward seems to be what God wants me to bring about. And that which I desire at my deepest level is also what God desires for me — and probably those around me too.

What about you? For what do you long? For what does your heart pine – in your life, in your family, in your community, in the world?

If you were to envision a world in which your deepest desires were manifested, what would it look like?

I invite you, and me, to pause and be with those questions. Somewhere in this vision is a call. Somewhere in it is a reflection of who you are. And who God is. Maybe God just needs someone to bring it about. Maybe that instigator is you. And me. And us together.

May we come to know what we desire. May we walk together in peace, love, and justice. And may God, who makes all things possible, bring our longings to fulfillment. Amen.

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, dancing, and shiny things.