The Primal Drive for Life

The longing for things to be good again is one of the deepest yearnings of the human heart. It has slumbered in the depths of our souls ever since we lost our true home. For our hearts remember Eden.

Most of the time this beautiful, powerful longing flows like an underground river below the surface of our awareness — so long as we are consoled by some measure of goodness in our lives. While we are enjoying our work, our family, our adventures, or the little pleasures of this world, the longing for things to be good again seems to be placated.

But when trials and heartbreaks wash in, the longing rises to the surface like a whale coming up for air, filled with momentum and force. This is especially true after times of severe testing, because during the testing we are rallying. But when the storm subsides, the longing for things to be good again rises up to demand relief.

How we shepherd this longing — so crucial to our identity and the true life of our heart — how we listen to it but also guide it in right or wrong directions, this determines our fate.

God has given each human soul a capacity and drive, a primal aspiration for life. This is as fundamental to you as your own survival.

The epicenter of our being is the deep longing to aspire for things that bring us life, to plan for those things, to take hold of them, to enjoy them, and start the cycle over as we aspire toward new things! This is the essential craving for life given to us by God. Let’s call this capacity the Primal Drive for Life.

The longing for things to be good again is the mournful cry of the Primal Drive for Life in us, like the haunting cries of whales under the sea.

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them. (George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss)

This hunger allows human beings to survive the most terrible ordeals; it also enables us to savor all the goodness of this world, to love, and to create works of immense beauty.


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