Mark Mossa, SJ

It seems almost against our nature to be happy where we are, and probably to a certain extent it is. For were we not somewhat restless, were we not uncomfortable with staying too long in one place, we would not find the drive, the desire, to discover and create new things, and we would not look outside ourselves in search of relationships to enrich and improve our lives and offer us the reward of love.

An important step in the spiritual life is simply to answer God’s question. God, who created you in love, who knows everything about you, is asking you, Where are you? This is not a question asked by an angry God. An angry God wouldn’t care. It is important that we see this question for what it is. By asking such a question, God is out to expose you. Not so that he can show you everything that is wrong with you, or even everything that is right, but simply because God wants to be with you where you are, and whether we know it or not: God’s already there. 

The goal of a spirituality of desire is nothing more— and nothing less—than to be with God. There are many paths to get there, but our challenge is to find the unique path that God has laid out for each one of us. With varying levels of awareness, we are all walking this path. But to discover what it is we are looking for it is not enough to set our sights on being with God in some ideal heavenly future. The spiritual life requires an appreciation of how God is with us where we are now and where God was—or wasn’t—with us in our past.