Have you ever experienced something so beautiful that it almost hurts?
I was listening to a podcast recently where a woman named Susan Cain described her research into the beauty of melancholy. She describes something called the ‘sacred gap’, which is the difference between what humans long for and what we experience in our lives.
Humans tend to long for peace, the end of suffering, and unending happiness and fulfillment. But what we experience is only a fraction of those things.
Miss Cain suggests that this gap will never be crossed, but it should motivate us to seek to move the human experience towards that beautiful vision of fulfillment. She says it is ‘sacred’ because so many people turn to the divine to bridge this gap.
Can anyone relate?
Do you long for some vision of a beauty-filled existence without suffering? I can.
Maybe we have experienced this in small ways when we see a vista that takes our breath away, or we hear a beautiful piece of music or piece of poetry read.
Maybe it is just a feeling you get but I believe longing for perfect beauty is built into humanity.
I find Susan Cain’s conclusion to be, well, bittersweet.
To long for something so beautiful it almost hurts only to realize you will never attain it is, in my mind, the definition of a bittersweet experience or a melancholy life.
I respect miss Cain for the work she has put into this critical aspect of human experience, but I also disagree with her conclusion. The infinite and unfulfilled longing for beauty is not the final condition of humanity.
So how do I propose that the ‘gap’ between longing and fulfillment can be crossed? Very simply, through a person, Jesus.
You might say, “Mark, you are just falling into her ‘sacred gap’ theory. It is like a fanciful hope not based in reality, so what help is it?”
Miss Cain and I have different beliefs on what reality is. I do not have a problem believing in a divine being powerful enough to create this world, put humans on it, give them consciousness, and, most importantly, be at work bringing about the beautiful vision.
C.S. Lewis said it best: “These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” —C.S. Lewis “The weight of glory”.
If you want to turn infinite longing into imminent peace and ultimate fulfillment, I encourage you to simply ask Jesus to do this for you now. Say out loud, even under your breath, “Jesus, I need you. Please give me your peace.” Amen.