Finding Ourselves

   Many talk about “finding themselves”.  This search usually involves major life changes; relocations, changes in professions, marriages, and divorces.  It’s a search for happiness looking in all the wrong places and is doomed to failure.  Within a short period of time a new search will be needed, the happiness they thought they had found will have vanished.

   For some this searching continues for a lifetime with no effective result.  At the end they look back over their life and wonder what they missed.  A lifetime of seeking self has left them empty.  For their sake I pray they will finally realize that what they missed was God.

   The self we seek can never be found in earthly goods and pleasures, only in giving ourselves to God, inviting Him within us and seeking His will in our life.  The wealth and pleasure of this world are short-lived and will not follow us into the grave.  We take nothing with us but our soul.  The houses, cars, money, and fame will be gone and all that will be left is our relationship with God.

   In his autobiographical “Confessions” St. Augustine wrote, “You move us to delight in praising You; for you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”  Many spend a lifetime searching for rest, but it cannot be found until they rest in God.

You created us to be happy.

 We seek happiness in all the wrong places.

Only in You can we be happy.

Only in You can we find our true self.

Amen