As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs after You

My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Psalm 42:1-2

~

THE ACHE

Desire of the ages,

sweet hunger of the prefall soul,

become unmet longing obscured by clamor,

driving forces of a busy world,

a fallen heart’s bent,

and, from its disease-wracked parts,

competing attractions,

till it lies buried beneath all their debris,

pushed aside as a extra to life,

if one has the time.

 

A hidden ache.

Within all, a vacuum crying desperate hunger.

And so to fill it,

try this and that, and something else,

and it never does quite satisfy,

there’s still the gnawing emptiness,

made vague by those distractions.

 

Clear the debris, dear Lord!

Sweep it away,

even if it costs me all those competing desires,

so I can see the famine inside,

and then look up,

and see the bread that fills it,

the only bread that fills it.

And stretch out hungry hands,

and partake.

And live.

And savor.

And satisfy.

And hunger yet more ever after,

but a sweeter hunger,

absent of the awful ache.

*****

Linked to

 Beholding Glory 

23 thoughts on “The Ache”

  2. Amen, Wanda. And He fills it so wonderfully. Thanks for visiting and commenting. God bless.

  3. What a beautiful poem expressing a deep hunger for God!

    “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled!”

    Thanks for sharing, Sylvia!

  5. Thank you, Joe and Mary, for your encouraging comments. These 5-minute Friday things utterly bowl me over sometimes. I would never. ever. plan on dashing off something like this, which, yes, I guess did end up a poem of sorts, in such short order, to post unedited! (I confess, I added a comma, and put it in present form after “time’s up.” And, of course, added the photo.) I don’t know where they come from! Although I have said God is the only muse I want. It’s the same with posts of others. I guess we just never know what lies hiding in our brains and hearts. (Which makes it especially scary, and so I do weigh before I click “publish.”)
    Glad you visited! God bless!

  7. Thank you, Laura, for your kind words. So glad you stopped by. Blessings to you!

    1. Thanks, Ruthie. Would you believe, the side yard, from the upstairs window? Just happened to fit, just so. Thanks for commenting.

  10. Sylvia,

    You were FIRST at Scripture and a Snapshot. How fabulous!

    So I can see the famine inside

    Oh, what a different view of the sacrificial fasting of Lent. A fast to see my famine…Dear Sister, now you’ve really started something!

    Love you,
    Dawn

    Oh, BTW, I loved the picture. We were both doing black and white unintentionally this week.

    1. Hi Cindee,
      Thank you for visiting and commenting. Yes, it did end up a snowglobe, with a winding path of hoofprints. (This kind of evolved from cropping necessity.) Glad you liked it!
      Blessings back to you as well!

  13. Oh my… this is so beautiful on so many levels… it nourishes the soul and stirs the spirit… I love love this

    “Clear the debris, dear Lord! Sweep it away, even if it costs me all those competing desires”

    Yes, I make this my prayer too… blessings to you…

    1. Ah, Michele-Lyn, a kindred spirit! Let’s pray for each other! I see the trial of faith for the Church in the eastern half of the world as coming from persecution and poverty, and in the west as coming from all that debris (all kinds)! Thanks so much for commenting. I am blessed if God uses this to nourish your soul and spirit. That is what we need so much!

    1. Hi Elizabeth,
      Another kindred spirit?! Your blog title says it all: how the hunger of our souls really gets satisfied. Blessings to you today! “Casting aside every hindrance…”

  16. Hi Dawn,
    Yes, I ended up first! b/c I didn’t know when the link opened, and was checking. It seemed available, but there weren’t any sites up to link to yet, so I thought, well, I’ll give it a try, and ended up the first one.

    As for the idea of “A fast to see my famine” — funny thing is, I WAS NOT fasting from food at all when I wrote this, nor the day before — and when I mentioned debris that needed sweeping away, I was thinking of many things *other than* food. I’m probably going to post Wednesday about the previous Saturday’s food fast, how it transpired, and the big insights it gave, for me anyhow.

    Thanks for commenting, Dawn, and may you enjoy a rich feast today on the Bread of Life!

  18. Thank you, Amy and Katie, for your kind encouragement. God bless your day!

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