A God-sized and God-shaped Hole
A God-sized and God-shaped Hole
By Bruce Atkinson PhD
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
November 29, 2012
The human soul is so complex that only God can understand it, so broken that only God can fix it, and so deep that only God can fill it
We were created to have a "God-shaped hole" and nothing else but God can adequately fill it. Augustine's famous prayer says it well: "You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in You." Since the primary purpose of all human existence is to be in relationship with God, we should not be surprised that without God we are insecure, lonely, and self-destructive. Our lack of inner peace is unavoidable because it reflects the reality of being out of touch with our true purpose. Although our distress is unavoidable, that does not stop us from seeking "cures" for it. Our solutions tend to take the form of dependency relationships with others and things outside of ourselves. But to our great dismay we discover that we cannot fully depend upon anyone or anything because people are not entirely trustworthy and material things are fleeting. Things wear out; things break. People hurt us. People die. There is no security, none at all - without God.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
By Bruce Atkinson PhD
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
November 29, 2012
The human soul is so complex that only God can understand it, so broken that only God can fix it, and so deep that only God can fill it
We were created to have a "God-shaped hole" and nothing else but God can adequately fill it. Augustine's famous prayer says it well: "You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in You." Since the primary purpose of all human existence is to be in relationship with God, we should not be surprised that without God we are insecure, lonely, and self-destructive. Our lack of inner peace is unavoidable because it reflects the reality of being out of touch with our true purpose. Although our distress is unavoidable, that does not stop us from seeking "cures" for it. Our solutions tend to take the form of dependency relationships with others and things outside of ourselves. But to our great dismay we discover that we cannot fully depend upon anyone or anything because people are not entirely trustworthy and material things are fleeting. Things wear out; things break. People hurt us. People die. There is no security, none at all - without God.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
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