Discontentment

We all feel dissatisfied with our lives at times for no apparent reason. One day it's business as usual. The next it all seems pointless.

Sometimes an event can trigger the feeling. Other times a moment of quiet can make the underlying void creep into our awareness.

We work hard to distract ourselves from the void. We shop, drink, watch video on screens of every size, overeat, overwork, have affairs. We all know our favorites. But the emptiness always returns. If we pay attention, we'll see that it is always lurking around the corner.

That void is our awarness of how insignificant and brief our lives are.

Even those who leave a notable legacy through their work or families face a certain end to their contributions, an end that is not as distant as we'd like to think.

And, of course, most of us will leave far less of a legacy than we would wish. Memories of us will quickly fade. Our contributions will mostly be forgotten.

There is a disconnect between the value of a human life as measured in days and deeds, and our deep sense of what a human being is.

Our souls don't fit well inside our mortal bodies. So we tell tales of immortality, spend billions to extend human life, and strive to leave our mark on the world.

The truth is that we will not be fully satisfied in this life. We don't fit in this life because we were made for immortality, for heaven, for freedom from our pettiness, our compulsions, our distractedness. We were made for greater things. All of us were, whatever our talents in this life.

There is much we can do to enrich our lives here so that we have more to give to others. We can help ourselves stay healthy (you know how). We can develop our minds (you know how to do that too). And we can nurture our spirits. Some of us aren't so sure how to do that.

Our spirits thrive on truth, beauty, and goodness. They thrive on God, the source of all these things. So the way to nurture your spirit is to seek God. Go to church. Pray. Give to the needy. Practice the virtues (you remember what they are).

If you think about it, you probably know what this kind of life feels like. You may have sought God for a while, but wandered away. If you haven't or don't know where to begin, talk to someone who lives this life. Talk to a priest. You don't have to be Catholic to do that, and he won't try to talk you into anything. That's not the Catholic way.

Living with a deliberate orientation to God takes work and thought, but unlike all of the distractions we employ to avoid the problem, these things actually move us forward.

Attending to our immortal souls, orienting ourselves to our future, to the immortality to which God calls all of us (if we are willing), gives meaning to everything that we do.

We experience discontentment because we have an unmet need to worship the one who made us, to be in a relationship of love and devotion with him. He's what's missing.

Seeing this life as a preparation for the eternal life to come makes us more thoughtful in our choices, more deliberate in what we do, more fully human.

Of course, none of this makes any sense if you believe there is no God, or if God is alien to you. In that case, the void holds no promise. But it can. It's your choice.