The post pandemic world is filled with a search for something more.
We all feel it.
We sense it.
We long for it.
But we don’t know what “it” is.
One of the agents at my real estate company described her desire for an atmosphere of positive energy. “Something has been lost,” she said.
I agreed.
Pastor’s describe it as the desire to see their members return and fill the seats in their empty sanctuaries.
Empty seats that used to be filled with warm bodies with smiling faces is a tangible reminder of something lost.
Business owners sense a disconnect between their employees toward each other and their customers. It’s almost like everyone is walking in a state of semi-consciousness, alive, but not fully. Busy, but not productive. Present, but not engaged.
It’s longing for a sense of togetherness.
A sense of normal and right. Of what used to be.
A sense of belonging and reassurance that things will be OK.
I’m reading the book Resilient by John Eldredge. I’m only one chapter in at the time of this writing, but it’s already penetrated my mind, heart, and soul.
He points out that we are in a post pandemic world where our souls long for a return to normal and for something even better. We are filling our lives with things that we think will make that happen, but we have failed to acknowledge that we are all experiencing the trauma of the pandemic. Trauma, left unchecked, produces all sorts of bad outcomes.
Our souls, he points out, need to be restored, not ignored. Our longings stem from ravaged and traumatized souls and left untreated, our longings can produce harmful results, opposite of what we are truly longing for.
We all have a “Primal Drive for Life” and aspire to new and better things but that drive is under attack when we neglect our soul.
I’ll share more about what I learn in my posts, but I’ll leave you where he left us in the first chapter.
The only true healing and nourishment for our souls comes from our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, who offers us the River of Life.
Ezekiel 47:9c “Where the river flows everything will live.”
I want to live again with a soul full of reserves. Will you join me in this journey?
Prayer
Lord, as I embark on this journey, I ask that you restore my soul from your cisterns of living water. That you heal the brokenness. That you help me navigate the rough waters we are in right now. Amen
Source: Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times, (c) 2022 by John Eldredge
Photo by Daniel Lerman on Unsplash