According to Webster’s dictionary, the definition of longing is a strong desire, especially for something unattainable: CRAVING.

English is my second language, but I’m going to take a stab at this and say that the definition is incomplete. Longing is attainable, or else God wouldn’t put it there. If I might be so bold as to describe the sensation, it feels like a slow burn like your heart constantly shaved by a parmesan cheese grater. It just never ends. 

From a Christian perspective, the longing is God’s breath put into you. He put it there when he breathed down Adam’s nostrils to give him life initially. In us, it seeks to escape—seeking release from our soul through our heart and seeping out of every pore in our skin.
It is life! Longing is your soul’s heartbeat. 

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7.

The desire to be rid of it runs rampant in our modern-day “anxiety." We seek to control our emotions instead of surrendering. We medicate, overeat, seek sexual encounters, or tattoo ourselves to rid ourselves of the longing that burns so uncomfortably. That anxiety lives in the pendulum swing of escape. The sensation feels like the soul wants to remove itself from the body and not feel the discomfort. It is the result of the fall, the disconnect from God. Oh, the tension. 

On the other side of the pendulum is acceptance. An important note here is that anxiety and surrender cannot exist in the same space. Embracing the condition of our fallen state removes anxiety and anxiety blocks surrender. This longing can be hushed and fulfilled in this life through communion with God. Going back to God is the only way to soothe that burn.

St. Teresa of Avila describes communion with God like two wicks of a candle burning together as one. It takes prayer and asking on our part and grace on God’s part to obtain union. Harmony with God is possible. God loves us so much that He would not deny us of our desire to be one with Him. The mind, body, and soul experience together as wholeness in this life is a grounding gift from God. When we are finally with Him in heaven, that burn will cease. 

Until then, seek out a connection to ground that longing. Offer yourself up to God. Your whole self, body, and soul. Anchor yourself by reaching for others who are grounded in authenticity with God. Be brave and be known.

Image: John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shallot, 1888