The Longing

GravitySpirit

Source: Art by Luceigh

In the beginning, did the Universe so long to expand that it could not refrain from bursting forth, exuding its contents into the emptiness of potential, allowing energy to shape-shift into matter, birthing laws as it birthed forms, permitting energy to establish the cosmic rules of order to balance the drive to disorder, all the while exhaling the great Question relentlessly surging ahead of its Answer?¹

Over thirty-five years ago I heard a word within a long-forgotten sentence about spirituality. Immediately on hearing the word, my heart felt as if every cell in it were being pulled toward an unidentified universal source. The word was Longing, meant in the context of a deeply profound spiritual impulse. The experience was like a new gravitational force had been suddenly exposed.

It was clearly not the same as craving a cookie!

I have explored this mystifying word over many years. I have felt The Longing beckon me, have searched for its source, and have wept to touch it, but still, it remains elusive. What I have to share at this point are unprovable intuitions and temporary beliefs arising from my direct experiences.

The Longing is an inherent force of existence. It draws forth the unfolding of universal expression through the birthing of new forms and processes, such as from stars to atoms to living cells. The word Longing first touched my heart because that is where The Longing is most intense in my single human form. The Longing likewise guides the evolution of the collective heart in which all life participates.

The Longing is like a cosmic question in search of an answer that, when found, transforms into the next question. In this way, the expressive progression, i.e., the story, of the universe is continually created through inquiry. On Earth, The Longing has brought forth life and remains embedded within all living beings. It provides a sense of direction of natural development. In our current era, The Longing appears to be prompting the rapid acceleration of life’s consciousness of its most Good, True, and Beautiful self.

The events of our current times have heightened within me an urgency to understand The Longing. I have no clear reason for relevancy, only metaphoric instinct. It is as if innumerable pieces of a complex jig-saw puzzle have been created but there is no box cover to reveal the objective scene. We can’t even find the pieces that make the edges because they keep changing. It is as if we have clues chaotically swirling about us, disrupting our past connections, and leaving us to dangle in uncertainty. We are now in both a disturbing and inspiring turmoil of an exceptional magnitude. We may not be able to address the expansive complexity at this point, but what we can address is what we each as individuals might embody to ease the situation.

Imagine we shared a sense of The Longing that reaches into the hearts of each of us, draws us forward toward more Good, True and Beautiful expressions of life, prompts us to discover new ways to connect with compassion and humility, and guides us through our current shifts of consciousness. Such a sense of The Longing must be void of past prejudices, contortions of truth, greed, lack of caring, and more. It is ultimately unreachable by such behaviors and will not be destroyed by them. The Longing would have us extend above and beyond anything that might dare to threaten its calling to us. Imagine sharing The Longing to guide our current efforts for justice and generosity, to enhance kindness in everyday exchanges and to contribute our talents to find cooperative solutions to local and global issues.

The Longing is something to be physically experienced inside our hearts as our connection to that which is beyond all knowing. It teaches us to connect to others in healthy ways and strengthens our resolve to make changes necessary for our survival and that of Earth and all its inhabitants.

I will continue to explore this deep Longing within myself in the belief that it inspires a perspective more creative than I can now realize. The Longing may present itself to each of us in different forms, but if we can agree that it is a common guide toward a more thoughtful and compassionate era of cooperation, we can become co-participants in expanded consciousness bursting forth into the emptiness of potential.

© B. A. Luceigh, 2018