What are you looking for? (Part 1)

A young man, newly converted to Christianity, once walked away from a life of serious sin. Despite his tumultuous past, the grace of God entered his life, opening his eyes, mind, and heart to the love and mercy of God. The more he began to experience the beauty of holiness, the more he desired to live for God alone.

Nevertheless, the more he pursued holiness, the more clearly he began to see the darkness in the world. Before his conversion, he had believed that the darkness he now saw was light. But “the true light that enlightens every man” (John 1:9) was now revealing to him the genuine nature of reality. He could see sin clearly, and it seemed to appear everywhere—corruption in government, scandal in the Church, division in families, and moral confusion on every side.

The peace and joy of his recent conversion began to fade. In their place came discouragement and even despair.

Eventually, overwhelmed by the heaviness in his heart and mind, he went to a nearby monastery and asked to speak with one of the monks. An elderly monk named Fr. Joseph came to greet him. He had been a monk for sixty years. His entire countenance was peaceful and disarming. His face bore the marks of prayer, sacrifice, and intimacy with God. He radiated not only the love of God but also a wisdom that was not of this world.

As they sat down to talk, the young man poured out his heart to Fr. Joseph. He spoke about the sin he saw everywhere and how he feared the whole world was going to hell. Fr. Joseph listened attentively. When the young man had finished, the monk waited a few moments before speaking. Then he said gently: “My son, do not despair. The entire world is looking for God. The problem is that most people are not yet aware of it.” Fr. Joseph paused for a moment, closed his eyes, and continued softly, “Once they become aware of it, everything changes.”

Upon hearing these words, the young man almost laughed at what he perceived to be the monk’s naivety. Is the entire world really looking for God? he thought to himself. What about those who openly reject God, who mock faith, or who live in grave sin?

But Fr. Joseph was neither naïve nor detached from reality. He was a man who knew the human heart.

What he was reminding the young man of was this: at the deepest level, every human being desires God. Even when that desire is distorted, misdirected, or ignored, it remains. The problem is not that people do not desire God; rather, they do not recognize the One for whom they are searching.

The despair the young convert experienced when he looked out at the world was not caused simply by seeing sin, but by failing to recognize the hunger that often lies beneath it. It would be both impossible and foolish to deny that sin exists or that evil deeply wounds the world. Yet we must not forget that every human heart is created for union with God.

I have observed, both in my own life and in the lives of everyone I’ve encountered, that at the core, all of us are essentially seeking three things. These three pursuits influence many, if not most, of our decisions, and ultimately shape the course of our lives: What are these pursuits? Love, identity, and eternity.

First, love. There has never been, and never will be, a single person in human history who does not desire to be loved. The human person is desperate for love and will go to great lengths to attain it, both for good and ill. Throughout history, people have died for love, killed for love, and been completely transformed by it. The pursuit of love follows each person regardless of age or circumstance. St. Pope John Paul II expresses this beautifully: “Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.”^[1]

To be human is to live in need of love.

Second, identity. There has never been, and never will be, a single person in human history who does not ask Who am I? This question appears on nearly every page of literature, history, philosophy, religion, and it arises in everyday life. The desire to understand oneself arises almost automatically at a very young age and accompanies a person throughout life. Regardless of how much self-knowledge one attains, the quest to know oneself more deeply is instinctive. The Psalmist expresses this strikingly: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have established; what is man that you are mindful of him” (Psalm 8:3-4).

To be human is, in essence, to be in search of one’s identity.

Finally, eternity. There has never been, and never will be, a single person in human history who does not want to live forever. Even those who claim they do not wish for endless life still hope that their teaching, their writing, or at least their memory will endure in the minds of future generations. No one truly wants to disappear. This is why death can feel so cruel, so deeply unsettling- like a shock to our entire being. Everything within us resists it. We are made for life, for eternal life, and every part of us strains towards it.

To be human is to desire life…forever.

The desire for love, identity, and eternity is deeply rooted in the heart of every human person. The ultimate question in life, then, is this: Where can these desires be fulfilled in abundance? This world, as good and beautiful as it is, cannot satisfy them to the depth for which we long. The source of our fulfillment must come from beyond this world—namely, from God.

Interestingly, the happiest people I have encountered in life are not the wealthiest, the most attractive, or the most influential. Rather, they are those who love God, who seek Him sincerely, and who express that love by loving others in return. The reason is simple: they are most fully alive because they are rooted in what matters most, the desire for God. Our task, then, both within ourselves and in others, is to awaken this fundamental desire and to nurture it toward its true fulfillment.

^[1] The Complete Encyclicals of John Paul II. Redemptor Hominis. Henderson Publishing, San Antonio, TX, 2024, 11.