The eyes of longing

‘When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ (Luke 18:8b)

The heart is a lonely hunter, and it is no less true when the hunter is the divine heart. Loneliness and longing echo through the heart of Jesus in any number of stories the New testament records, including this haunting question.

Jesus gazes into the future with aching eyes, wondering aloud if any will know him when he appears. Will any be waiting? Will any be watching? Will any be praying and hoping for the healing and mercy he brings?

Will his eyes meet the watchful longing of tired souls yearning for him to shower justice, mercy and peace on this fractured world? Or will our hearts surrender hope, no longer believing, expecting or even desiring the healing only love can bring?

The image of God he unveils is not one of impenetrable power. He reveals the longing heart of a lover who hungers to be known and received by the beloved, who cannot rest content until the hearts for whom he hungers are gathered, safe and at home, encompassed in his love.

The desire I feel in him is reason enough for me to love Jesus and to call him my brother. For in his aching eyes, I see the reflection of my own. And in his lonely question, I feel his mercy, his longing for my heart to be one, finally at home in the great, eternal love of his heart.

In this, we are joined, his heart and mine, already one. The ache in my heart for healing and peace and mercy and everything this world so badly needs is the presence of his Spirit within my own, a share in his life and an answer to his lonely question.

Yes, Lord, you will find faith, for the flame of your love lives in the longing of our hearts. And we cannot be content with anything less than you.

David L. Miller