It is often said that we all have problems and that there is no one on Earth who doesn't have a thing or two bothering him or her. While this can be said to be true, there is a consolation that says €every problem has a life span'. The only problem is that problems never seem to end. Maybe that problem too has a lifespan.
There is a constant struggle within us all. We struggle for different things and at different times. We struggle with people and sometimes against people. We are constantly in a struggle for something, either material or spiritual. Most of the time, the struggle is for the material, for the world we can see, feel and touch. We struggle to attain a certain social status, to achieve a set target and to conquer all competition to lift the prize. We are constantly on the move as we are constantly growing, physically, intellectually and even emotionally. We are never static at any point in time and we will continue to burn energy, get tired, sleep, eat and work until we take our final breath.
In all of these, there is an emptiness which burns us from within. That emptiness is what we often think we can fill through sex, alcohol and drugs. The emptiness is not an emptiness that can be filled with such little things as those but with something greater than life. The emptiness cries out to the Divine, to the creator of all things seen and unseen. Saint Augustine describes the feeling of this emptiness to a restless soul when he said, €You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.€ The restlessness of our hearts comes from something within. It comes from the soul. Our restless soul takes the peace away from us. It is the restless soul we try to silence with drugs and liquor. No matter how many empty bottles litter the house, once consciousness returns, the memories return with it and so does the cry of the restless soul.
Most of the time, we immerse ourselves in work. We work from dusk to dawn and only departing from such work when hunger bites and then when sleep calls. This is not enough to silence the cry of our restless souls. For we will spend some minutes before our eyes are shut and in those few minutes, the soul will cry out even louder. We dream but sometimes do not remember. Maybe we do not want to remember or maybe we unconsciously try to deafen our ears to the cry of the soul in our dreams that the mind consciously makes us forget such dreams. But we will not sleep forever. We will wake up to brush, to bath and to breakfast. The restless soul waits and cries. It never stops. Like a baby crying for the mother's attention. Our soul will never stop crying until they have felt the warm embrace of the Holy One.
We may deny it now or we may feel that we are filled with the Holy Spirit and so do not have restless souls. Check again. Spend more time in meditation. Listen to the voice of your soul. Listen to the cry of your soul. The soul cries for one thing or the other and in most cases, the soul cries for all things. You wake up and do not pray to God. The soul cries because it has not greeted its Father. You go through the day only remembering to pray once. The soul cries again because it only spent a few minutes with its Father. You give up a religious gathering for a canal one. The soul cries because you have chosen darkness over light. The soul cries all the time but the question is; are you listening?