SEEK GOD
Sociological studies say that the religious crisis is dragging on in Europe toward an «indifference» every day greater. A tranquil indifference, far from every approach about God. Yet there are ever more those who are moved by a certain «nostalgia of God» who feel the need to seek «something different», a new way of believing in God. How to seek God?
Undoubtedly each one needs to start with their own experience. You can’t copy others. It mustn’t be forced or phony. Each one knows their own desires and sufferings, their emptiness and fears. Each one knows their «necessity» of God. Their voice is never silenced. They don’t cry out with their lips, but with the whispering of the heart.
That’s precisely why it’s not enough to seek God outside: in books, discussions or debate. One thing is «argue about religion» and another very distinct is to seek God with a sincere heart. The persons themselves realize when they are escaping from God and when they are seeking God truly. St. Augustine said it like this: «Don’t get scattered. Concentrate on your intimacy. The truth lies in the inner person».
To seek God demands effort, but to encounter God is never the result of a fanatic voluntarism or of a tense asceticism. God is a gift, and what’s important is to welcome God with «simplicity of soul». Let’s remember the reflection of the old prior in the Dialogue of Carmelites by Georges Bernanos: «Once we leave infancy, we must suffer much in order to return to it, just as only after a long night does the dawn return to appear once again. Have I returned to be a child once again?»
To seek God by supporting yourselves only in your own intuitions is not the best way to get it right. There are many ways of deluding ourselves or of wandering in circles around our very self, around our feelings and ideas. That’s why it’s better to share and contrast our own experience with someone who can guide us from their living of God. That mutual sharing can be the best stimulus to keep seeking God.
In his parable of the «treasure hidden in the field», Jesus tells of the man who «full of joy», sells all he has to gain the treasure. To seek God doesn’t lead to sadness or bitterness; on the contrary it generates joy and peace, since the person begins to discover where true happiness lies. Let’s remember St. Augustine: «Only what does good for a man can make him happy».
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
