The Restless Search For and Finding God

The restless search for God, who is our ultimate end, has occurred in all societies since the beginning of human history. The study of world history without taking religion into account would result in a shallow understanding of it. What is the current state of the search for God? How should we be searching for God during this season of Lent? Where do we find God?

The Ultimate, What We Want More than Anything Else

First, I will be descriptive, not judgmental. We humans always want more than we already have, know, and experience. We always have, and we always will. Everyone to one extent or another experiences dissatisfaction and restlessness – not only with something specific (a job, a personal relationship, a pastime, etc.), but also with life in general. Even after we get something new, something we “always wanted,” a new start, we eventually are dissatisfied and restless again. No matter how good we have it, we all get bored. How many times do we see in the news someone who seemed to “have everything” try something so extreme that it caused great pain to their loved ones or themselves?

Now, there is restlessness, and there is restlessness. So here is the judgmental part – of the sin, not the sinner. There is “unhealthy restlessness.” One example is the craving that comes from being addicted – whether to alcohol, another drug, sex, phones, gambling, video games, popularity, success, or whatever the case may be. Another common cause of unhealthy restlessness is an uneasy conscience. It seems to me that the most common cause today is the constant need to feel good emotionally.

Then there is “healthy restlessness,” restlessness that does not come from doing anything wrong. Even the sanest and most virtuous among us continually look for new and better things, new and better experiences, better (and sometimes new) relationships.

In a word, what we humans want more than anything else is transcendence. Derived from the Latin for “to climb (scandere) across (trans),” transcendence means “experiencing more than we already experience” or “going beyond usual limits.” Sometimes we seek it subconsciously, unintentionally, or indirectly. Sometimes frustration or disappointment discourages us from seeking it; but even when we give up seeking transcendence, we still wish that we had it. This is why songs like “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,” “The Seeker,” and “Born to Be Wild” appealed to me in my adolescence and I still occasionally listen to them.

In fact, beyond wanting more than we already have, know, and experience, we also want the greatest, the ultimate, the absolute, the supreme, the perfect thing or experience. We seek ecstasy, euphoria, unlimited happiness, the fullness of life, perfect existence. Neither the most comfort and pleasure, nor the greatest accomplishments, nor the best friendships, nor the best family brings an end to our general restlessness and dissatisfaction.

Upon reflection, we realize that not even being religious ends our restlessness and dissatisfaction. Have you ever had a religious “high” from a Mass, Adoration, praying, a conference, a retreat, or a religious experience, and then felt disappointed when it didn’t last? Did you ever think you finally had gotten it together spiritually, that you finally were the kind of person God wants you to be, and then realized you had been kidding yourself? Have you tried to be joyful because Pope Francis says you should, and then found you were not? These “come downs” were inevitable. The greatest mystics in the history of the Church could not stay in their mystical experiences. The greatest saints never stopped being sinners (except of course the Blessed Mother). It seems to me that we will always need to “work out [our] salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), no matter how often we also experience joy and confidence in the Faith.

The Reason for Our Restlessness

There is nothing more ultimate, greater, more absolute, more supreme than the one true God. The reason everyone seeks transcendence is because God made us to seek it. God made us to seek transcendence because God made us to seek Him (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27-30). God is searching for us. God wants us to know Him and have a relationship with Him. The greatest adventure in this life is knowing and having a relationship with God. As Psalm 63 says,

God, You are my God whom I seek;

For You my flesh pines and my soul thirsts

Like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.

Thus have I gazed toward You in the sanctuary

To see Your power and Your glory.

As St. Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You, O God.” But we need to add that our hearts will only fully rest in God, we will only fully see His power and His glory, we will only find the ultimate transcendence when we directly experience God Himself and fully share in His life. And that can happen only after this life in His Kingdom.

We need to be “equipped” to know God directly, to experience God fully, to see God face-to-face. We need to be transformed. Only death or the Second Coming of Christ can transform us in this way. Just as our eyes need light in order to see and yet are not able or “equipped” to take in too much light at one time, similarly we need God but are not yet able to experience too much of God. Just as too much light (e.g., staring into the sun) overpowers our eyes, too much of the Supreme Being, the Only Absolute and Perfect Being, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Lord of the Cosmos would overpower us.

God’s existence is NOT self-evident or obvious. It takes some convincing to accept God’s Revelation. It is natural to wonder, have questions, or have doubts about God’s existence and to seek reasons for believing in God (see CCC, 37-38).

God is not obvious to us humans due to the fact that He is “veiled” from us, that there is a “curtain” between God and us. It was Original Sin, and NOT God, that pulled the curtain or veil between us humans and God. Original Sin also gave us a fallen or weakened human nature which is not able or not “equipped” to experience God fully (see CCC, 402-406). That from which we most need transcendence is Original Sin, along with personal sin. During this Lent, we will receive in sermons, podcasts, and other media good points about using Lent to improve our relationship with God. If we do not connect our Lenten observance with Original Sin, we will fail to fully appreciate not only Lent, but also Good Friday.

What Is New about the Human Search for Transcendence

Although it is human nature to believe in God or some kind of spiritual or supernatural reality, there are several things that are new about the human search for transcendence.

One is that atheism and agnosticism are gaining ground. (Atheism is the belief that there is no God (see CCC, 2123-2126). Agnosticism is the belief that it cannot be known if God exists, and so agnosticism is neither belief in God nor unbelief in God (see CCC, 2127-2128).  It is new in history to have as many people as there are now who are searching for transcendence without searching for God or some kind of spiritual or supernatural reality.

Utopianism (the belief that society can be perfected) is an example of the secular (non-spiritual) search for transcendence. The obsession of Neo-Marxist Woke-ism with “social justice” and “equity” is as zealous and unforgiving as any religious fanaticism.

Also new in history is that there are more people who believe in some kind of spiritual or supernatural reality without being involved in organized religion. It has become more common to hear “I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious” or words to that effect.

Another historical novelty is the number of people now who are Relativists or Subjectivists and thus believe that transcendence is completely subjective, as in “I have my religion, and you have your religion, and who’s to judge?” or “I find happiness my way, and you find happiness your way, and it’s all good.” To Relativists, God is “whoever” or “whatever” someone believes God to be or “being Catholic” is whatever someone feels it is. Relativists can also make their own search an end in itself. “The journey is the destination.”

Two things seem to be coalescing in the current godless search for transcendence: an attempt at objectivity in “social justice” (with “fact checking,” opposition to “bias” and “denial,” etc. about “climate change,” “diversity,” etc.) and radical subjectivity in sexuality (same-sex “marriage,” transgenderism, etc.). Adding to the confusion are those within the Church who either equate the Gospel with this combination of Woke-ism and the Sexual Revolution or who do not speak up against such equation.

What about Those Who Have Given Up on God or Religion?

Everyone has something that is the most important thing in his or her life – an absolute value, a highest priority, an ultimate goal, which is reflected in how one spends one’s time and money. Everyone worships something, even if it is himself or herself. Human beings cannot not worship. So when people give up on finding the one true God, they find a substitute for God and are “all about” whatever they have substituted for God.

Just as some people seek transcendence unintentionally or indirectly, those who have given up on God or religion are actually seeking the one true God unintentionally or indirectly. People seek the one true God unintentionally or indirectly whenever they sincerely seek objective truth, objective goodness, or objective beauty.

So, in this way, there are two kinds of people in the world: those who seek God intentionally or directly and those who seek God unintentionally or indirectly. What Saint Paul said to the pagans in Athens (Acts 17:23-27), he says to non-believers today:

What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it . . . it is He who gives to everyone life and breath and everything . . . so that people might seek Him, even perhaps grope for Him, and find Him though He is not far from any one of us.

God wants us to imitate St. Paul and proclaim Him to those who unknowingly worship or seek Him. One way we might succeed with some God-deniers is by tapping into their restlessness and admitting our own – finding this common ground. And then we need to share how we have found transcendence, without any false advertising that having the Faith in this life will be as satisfying as eternal life in the Kingdom. There will still be crosses to carry.

Finding God

Realizing that our pre-transformed life, including practicing the Faith, will never be perfectly satisfying is an important part of maturity. But we can be better or worse Catholics. We can be more fully alive or less fully alive in the here and now. We can find a very good degree of transcendence and greatly reduce our restlessness as we prepare for the ultimate adventure of meeting God face-to-face.

Like our fellow human beings, we find God any time we find any truth, goodness, and beauty in harmony with Right Reason. God is best found in the doctrine of the Catholic Church and worship, prayer, and morality that are in harmony with that doctrine. The journey is not the destination. The destination is the destination, and the journey is the journey. The destination is the Kingdom of God, and the best journey to it is a life that assents to all Catholic doctrine.

We are restless for Your Kingdom, Heavenly Father.

Send Your Holy Spirit

to help us to seek Your Kingdom

through the fullness of the means of salvation

You have given us in the Catholic Church

founded by Christ Our Lord.

Amen.