The Restless Heart by Ronald Rolheiser

Author:Ronald Rolheiser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780307424099
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2007-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

TOWARD A RESOLUTION: DEFINITIVE DIRECTIONS

The New Testament’s solution to the problem of human loneliness is already implicit in its analysis of its causes. If the causes of loneliness are sin and our pilgrim status on earth, then, correspondingly, the solution to human loneliness must lie in the direction of conversion and in an ever-deepening entry into the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. Both of these elements are already contained in Jesus’ opening lines in Mark’s Gospel: “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”12 With these words, Jesus invites us to resolve our loneliness by moving in a certain direction: away from sin and toward the Gospel.13

1) Away from Sin

“Sin breeds sin,” says an old adage. Unfortunately, it also breeds much loneliness. It is the prime alienator, constantly severing our bonds of friendship and love with each other. Hence, as is the case for the Old Testament, the first step toward moving out of loneliness is to convert, to turn our lives around, away from pride and selfishness, jealousy and distrust, pettiness and hardheartedness, and all the other things that keep us locked in our own lonely shells.

There is only one way to break out of these shells, and that is the road of conversion. Let the one who would be unlonely take Jesus’ challenge seriously: begin to live the Sermon on the Mount;14 begin to see the face of God in the needs of others;15 begin to live as one in waiting;16 begin to become part of Christ incarnate;17 begin to draw life from the sacramental Christ;18 and begin to follow Jesus to Jerusalem.19

2) Toward the Gospel

However, a simple movement away from sin, without an accompanying movement toward something else, is not enough. We find ourselves on this earth as pilgrims, possessing some astoundingly deep capacities, sensitivities, and cravings. We go through life hungering and thirsting for both the infinite and the finite. Our hearts desire not just the infinite, that which is beyond the persons and things we know, but also the finite, the persons and the things we do know. We want both.

But what can ever quench such loneliness? Union, communion, consummation. Our loneliness will be fully satisfied by our coming together in a radical union with God, others, and physical creation itself; in a union in which we will not be swallowed up, as a drop in the ocean, but in which we will each still have our own self-identity (indeed, a heightened individuality), despite the all-consuming unity. But is this possible? Are not a sustained self-identity and an all-in-one-embracing unity mutually exclusive? The experience of being loved within a community as well as the findings of contemporary sociology and psychology tell us that opposing these two is an illicit dichotomy. Paradoxically, unity with others and embrace by others heighten self-identity rather than diminish it. We are never more ourselves than when we are most in love.

Christ tells us that not only is this union or consummation possible but it is the very end to which we are called and for which we are made.

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