Dr. Mary C. McDonald
There is a world beyond our comprehension where reason steps back and the heart takes over. It is a world where wonder and wisdom meet. It is a world of faith. Annie and Jack are twins. They are my grandchildren. They were born five weeks earlier than expected. Each weighed a little more than four pounds. Annie was fine, but Jack had some problems. Jack was taken to the intensive care unit, Annie to her mother’s arms. Annie went home. Jack stayed in the hospital. Annie didn’t sleep well and Jack didn’t eat. He lost weight. When I visited him he seemed restless and I always asked him, “Do you miss Annie?” He would sleep with his arm wrapped around the tiny splint holding his feeding tube.
Several days passed and all Jack’s other vital signs were now normal, but he still wasn’t eating well, or gaining weight. The doctors decided to send him home. They thought that perhaps being reunited with Annie would help. So Jack came home. My son laid him in the infant seat next to Annie. They seemed to sense each other’s presence immediately. Annie stopped crying and nestled her head on Jack’s shoulder. Jack leaned his head next to her head as if to say, “I missed you”. They slept, peacefully. It was as if what they needed most was each other. There had been a piece missing from each of their hearts, shaped in the likeness of the other. Now, they were complete. Jack began eating, and Annie slept. They began thriving.
Jack and Annie’s experience is really no different than our own when we sense that something is missing in our lives. There are times when you may feel empty or alone and you are not sure why. Perhaps you feel that something is missing in your life, in your work, in your relationships, or in your marriage. You might feel that there is something more that you need, but you don’t know what it is. you look for every possibility to fill the void. Sometimes, you might fill that emptiness with what you think are solutions, such as a different job, a vacation, an affair, a bigger house, drugs, more stuff, more money, and on and on. You sometimes might even try to fill the void by blaming others for not meeting your need for fulfillment. You become so busy eliminating the possibilities of what it could be that is missing, that you often fail to see the simplicity of the truth. Our adult posturing prevents us from assuming a child-like faith. It is a faith that helps you recognize that there is indeed something more, and that “more” is God. What may be missing in the life you lead could be what is missing in you.
What ultimately completes us, makes us whole, is God. There is a place in your hearts that only His presence can fill. And, when it does, there is no longer room for the restlessness, the need for more, for something else, that you might sometimes feel. You will have all you need to bring your whole self to whoever you are, and whatever you do. You can then be a complete presence for others. You will be content, you will thrive, and you will be at peace. Like Jack and Annie, you will still have your struggles. But now, you can rest peacefully, and assured, knowing that you are not alone. You are always with God, who completes you, and you will sense His presence at your side.
