When I was young my parents had a cabinet that contained a big box radio and a turn table for playing records. I spent hours in front of that cabinet listening to music and imagining the tiny people inside the cabinet making the music. In my mind I’d “watch” them dancing and singing and performing in beautiful costumes for hours at a time. But there was something going on besides the imaginative entertainment. There was something that drove me to listen and imagine in this way. At the time, I was very aware of the driving feeling, but I didn’t understand what it was.
It was years before I realized that the feeling was what I now call longing. Somehow my spirit longed for something it couldn’t see, knew that there was something out there besides what was tangible, and yearned for it. I didn’t express this to anyone for fear they’d think I was crazy, but the last few years I’ve come to the conclusion that most of us have felt these feelings in some way.
For me it is a testimony that our spirits existed before this mortal life. The part of us that is spirit remembers a realm we once lived in where time didn’t exist and remembers other things we once knew that are not visible or tangible in this mortal world. Deep down we know that there is another realm where we once lived with God and our spirits get “homesick” for that realm and create a longing in us to be back there. When the longing falls over us we usually don’t recognize or understand what is happening, but as people begin to watch for and recognize the feeling they realize what is happening and appreciate it for what it is.
Sometimes the longing happens when you see something beautiful in nature, or at the birth of a baby, or special moments with loved ones, or while reading a good book, or like me and the little people, when you imagine something extraordinary and deep inside the confirmation comes that extraordinary, metaphysical things were once part of your daily life.
What I’m trying to say here is that certain kinds of longing are actually spirit memories that are meant to connect us to God. When we recognize these feelings and let them work in us they are beautiful enticements to trust in Him so that we can return to Him.
PS I’d really like to hear of some of the moments that have created these spiritual feelings of longing in your lives. Please leave a comment and share.
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4 comments:
I feel that longing when I look into the eyes of my children. My daughter turned four yesterday and I watched as she felt the wind blow her hair. She turned her face to the wind, closed her eyes, and slowly moved her head so that her hair blew around. I can not describe the joy I felt in my heart for the enjoyment of my child. O how I long for the joy continually.
I wish I had a good comment for this one. However, I do relate to that "homesick" feeling you wrote about. And I love the picture you chose for this post. :)
you don't know me, but my friend suggested i read your blog... a year ago i use to nanny for my sister's 8 month old daughter. one day as i was getting her out of the crib from her nap i immediately burst into tears because i felt this heart wrenching feeling of longing. it wasn't just the longing that ached inside of me it was also the complete realization that i so desperately want to be a mother one day and i cannot wait until the time that the child that i pull from the crib and embrace will be my own. i think my spirit was yearning to be joined those little ones that await me.
My ex husband of 3 years brought my son home last week after taking him all day to his work to 'job shadow' and also last night after taking him on a business trip to Washington, D.C., and both my ex husband and my son were just beaming. I had that longing to be together as a family again. We are still 'sealed', but his choices have led him away from the church and away from our family.
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